Rise of the Guardians - Black plague
by RaineyNights
Summary: Jack finds a strange girl who looks mysteriously like Pitch Black, he is warned by North and the others that she will only bring trouble, but he just cant stay away (rated M for later Chapters)
1. Pitch?

It was in the dead of winter, far off in the forest, well away from the city. Hills, covered in snow and dotted with trees stood tall and proud in the cold, a magnificent sight, though a deadly trail to walk. Especially now, with a blizzard not too far off. A wave of snow shoots in all directions, forming a trail as a white and blue blurr shoots through the path, waving and curving alongside the land. " WOO HOO! " A tall, thin teenageboy zoomed by a group of trees, causing the branches to quake and shake off the heavy snow. The boy caught the top-most branch of the tallest pine and let himself be twisted back, landing on the branch. He was dressed in a simple blue sweater, and a pair of tattered and worn khakis. Though the tempeture was freezing, he wore no shoes. He looked out upon the fresh new blanket of snow covering the woods and smiled. The beautiful white crystals shone in the sun, creating sparkling patches of white across the hills.

Jack was his name, Jack Frost. Many stop believeing in him, as they grow older, just like santa clause, or the easter bunny. Count yourselves lucky that you still believe now. He stood on that tree, resting after along day of work,chilling things and creating another snowday for the kids, ah but he found no greater pleasure than his work. He took another long look at his handywork,gazing over the almost illumenent sheet of white, covering the entire forest, when, something caught his eye. A small movement of black, flashed behind a tree. His first throught that it was some kind of animal, but, he knew somehow that it wasnt anything that was supposed to be here. Clutching a worn wooden staff, he glided on the chilly wind into the forest, to the tree. At first he saw nothing, but, looking around, he noticed the same flash of black dissapeare further on ahead of him.

He treded forwrd cautiously, on guard for anything that might attack him. When he reached the next tree, he saw it again, flittereing down the path until it vanished behind a hillside. He's seen that kind of movement, the swirling darkness, the fleeting blackness, only it couldnt be. There was no way iT could be! " Pitch." He thought. He snuck as quietly as he could to the hillside, slinking around it carefully, ready to run or fight if he should have to. Pitch was the boogy man, the nightmares that plauged even you at childhood. The last time Jack had seen HIM he'd been chased by his own nightmares. But Jack knew what he saw. He came around to a clearing, a small, frozen pond sat isolated from everything else, surrounded by only snow and the company of a single dead tree. It would have seen almost pretty to Jack, but he was more interested in the lone person, almost gliding over the lake.

It was a small person, dressed in a long black cloak, clutching what seemed to be a long piece of dead and rotting wood, a thin piece of pure white cloath wrapped near the head. The end of the cloak seemed to fade and wither away, to be replaced by an all new shade of black, like whispes of smoke from a burning log. its sleaves mimiced this, obscuring the hands compleatly. The figure had waist length, shaggy black hair, tied back in a loose ponytail. Bangs that reached the chin ghosted ofer its eyes and almost hid its pale white face. At first glance, all Jack could think about was Pitch, but, this figure was much shorter than he was. Then it struck Jack, this was a girl! It couldnt have been an ordinary mortal girl, not with the cloak whisping away like that. She walked or rather floated over into the center of the lake. Her legs barely disturbed the cloak as she walked. The more he watched her, the more sad he felt, through he could not place exactly why.

Perhaps it was the fact that she was all alone, miles from the city, that reminded Jack of himself in the past, before he became one of the guardians. He soon realized the sadness he felt soon turned to queasyness, and he began to feel sick, like he was going to collapse at any moment. He shook it off. " Where did that come from?" He thought. He watched the girl for a few minuets as she paced back and forth almost gracefully across the lake and back. Maybe the man on the moon sent her? Maybe he was ment to find her? But she was shrouded in darkness, could she be another form of the boogyman now that Pitch was gone? Was that even possible? She wasnt doing much, just pacing there. After a few minuets, He decided to chance it. " Hey!" He called. The girl jumped and stared almost fearful in his direction.

The first thing Jack noticed about her face was her eyes. Blood red, almost glowing, like embers in a fire. Her face was thin and pale, as if she had been sick, and her thin lips were a dark purple, like she was frost bitten, but with that long cloak she should have been fine? Jack wondered. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the girl raised her staff, and swung it in a circle, sweeping the air infront of herself. In a wave of black smoke, she dissapeared, only a small pool of black in her place, like a displaced shadow. It looked much darker for a shadow, if that was possible, like an endless abyss that held no bottom. It shot off away from him before he could blink. He couldnt even follow it it was so fast. " Wait! " He called after her, but she was gone. " You're not a mortal," He looked at the ground where she apparently vanished." but you look like Pitch, but he's gone..." He stared off into what he guessed was the direction she was heading. " So who are you? WHAT are you?"

Jack weaved through a bunch of hyper elves playing with tinsel, trying to attract the attention of his friend. A large , red suited man walked through his workshop, inspecting countless many toys being tinkerd with by large, furr covered Yetis. " Oh lovely colors zere... Oh vonderful!" Santa complimented the Yetis work, refusing to slow or even stop. Jack twirled on one foot trying to shake off a line of tinsle that the elves ensnared him in.

"But, but she was dressed in this wierd cloak that-that.."  
Jack continued to manuver through various obsticals caused by either mischioious elves or working Yetis.

" No, I dont like that color, Paint zem red!" He ordered, ignoring Jacks inquisitions.

" It was weird, when I watched her it-it was like I got sad for no reason!" Jack barely managed to avoid tripping over a few toy stacking logs.

" just add more oil, wheels WILL spin ." Santa continued his final inspections on his gifts for the children.

" But she, she looks just like PITCH!" Jack froze with one leg in the air, trying to avoid being lassoed by tinsel again.

At Pitches name being called, eveything seemed to freeze in time. No one, not Yeti or Elf would budge. Finnaly, Santa himself stopped. He finnaly aknowlaged Jack, grabbing his arm rather hard and dragging him into his office. " NO worries now, everything is o.k. go on back to vork da? " He called to the Yetis. He shut the door behind him, and locked it. " Vhats this about Pitch lad? Vhats happened? " Jack explained about the girl he saw on the lake, and about the way he felt sad and sick when there was no actual cause. When he mentioned this, the old mans eyes, normally friendly and inviting grew cold and hard. " YOu stay avay from her Jack, she brings nothing but trouble. " He stated. " b-b-ut who is she? I mean is she like us is-is she another gu-" " There is NO WAY that girl could EVER become a guardian. She brings nothing but death." Jack froze. Santa sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He dropped down on a large wooden work chair and rubbed his face.

" Her name is Black. Black Plague. She infects hundreds of people vith illness, many dont make it." Jack heard of the Black Plague before, or the bubonic plague as its true name is. It killed millions of people in the middle ages. " I didnt know-" " That it vas an imortal that caused it? " santa said coldly. " Not just the Black Plague son, she has may names for many Plagues she has caused. She isnt somevone you want to make friends vith." With that, He stood, and marched back into his workshop, leaving Jack alone wiht may questions." If she is so bad, why havent we gone after her?" He thought. It was the guardians jop to protect the children, surely they had reason enough to go after Black. It has been many years scince the last plague, had the guardians already done something to quiet her or scare her enough to stop?

He didnt know what it was about her that intersted him, but, he didnt feel like she was as bad as she was made out to be. He had no idea why he thought this, he knew she caused the deaths of millions, but, she didnt seem bad, just, lonely. Or was that just his past, his own rememberence of what it was like alone that gave him pitty for this girl, this, Black Plague. Even saying her name gave him shivers of dread, but he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. He knew Santa, or any other of the Guardians wouldnt approve, but he knew, he was going to find Black himself. 


	2. Black? What have you done?

The sky was a dark swirling mass, a warning for a storm soon to come. The city was compleatly deserted, any and all windows boarded up, and the stores exausted of their supplies. Not a single soul, animal nor man, could be seen anywhere on the streets. Jack stood on top of a two story buildning, surveying the streets for any little flickers of black. He had spent days gliding around the forest searching, but he couldnt even find any foot prints where he first saw her. Not a trace of her could be found anywhere, so he decided to try the city. He figured if she caused sickness, she would be around people, but, he couldnt find anything here wind picked up and bits of dirty snow pelted the buildings and cars around him.

The snow began to get harsh, quickly covering the pavement in snow. The wind felt like razors slicing through the air. The snow began to get so thick it was impossible to see more than an inch infront of his nose. He began wondering if he should give up, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a small black flash dissapear behind the his staff, he swept down to the corner, and peeked around, tring to stay as hidden as possible. He saw a small black mass through the piercing snow, slowly moving through the streets. She swayed slightly as she walked, her legs barely disturbing her cloak as she walked. Jack noticed that her feet made no prints in the snow as she walked. She stopped infront of something blanketed in the snow. She knelt in front of it, and got within a hairs bredth to it. At first Jack thought it was a bag of garbage, or some other kind of trash that was flung carelessly aside, but the longer he stared the more he could make out.

Fabric sprinkle with white snow and stained with food and other unnameable substances. Jack could see a hand stick out from under a thin cloth of mismatched fabrics patched together. It was un unatural almost ice blue, clutching a glass bottle. Jack guessed it was a homeless man, frozon from the blizzard. He could see the white of a long unruely beard and the tip of a mans nose jutting out from under a hole filled wool cap. He watched as Black gently placed a hand over the mans heart, eyes glowing a soft crimson. Her thin purple lips bent in a frown. Her face was only an inch from the mans. Jack watched curiously as she raised her palm and gently brushed over his eyes down to his chin. Jack silenced a ghasp as a thin, bright blue smoke lifted from the mans face. It swayed almost waterlike in the space between them. It didnt move with the wind, rather slowly spread out, twisting elegantly of its own accord.

Black watches with half lidded, sorrowful eyes as the blue whisps slowly dissapated, and vanished. She mumbled some thing that was lost to Jack in the howling wind of the blizzard. She touched the cheek of the man once more, then stood and stalked away. Her first elegant graceful gaite turned to a clumsy tudge through the snow, as if the weight of the snow and wind finally hit her. Jack followed her through a few allys, staying as far back as he could without losing sight of her. Through the blizzards ruthless snow, he ended up having to get closer and closer every turn she made. He was almost close enough to reach out and touch the hood of her cloak, when he tripped over something hidden in the snow. He stumbled with his footing, losing balance before catching himself at thelast moment. He stood strait, searching through the pelting snow. He could see nothing but white, and the blurred outlines of a car and a few other objects. He turned frantically searching for Black, but she was gone.

He darted off as fast as he could in the direction he thought she had gone, but ran into a dead end. He searched hopelessly through the snow, desparetly searching for any movment, but found nothing. Blindly walking through the blurred streets in the blizzard, he found himself close to where he first saw her. He remembered the man in the ally way, and after a few wrong turns, managed to find him again. The man was still sitting slumped against the wall, clutching the bottle in one hand. Jack approched cautiosly, and knelt before him as Black had done. He carefully nudged the man, but recieved no response. Jack slowly lifted the mans wool cap from his eyes. The orbs once filled with life, were now a dull listless white, color long gone and no longer decerible, pale and void of any life.

The man was dead, Jack knew that before he approched him, but it wasnt his eyes or his still heart that shocked Jack. He fell back, dragging himself frantically away from the man, legs unwilling to let him stand again. He yelped, and breathed rapidly as he stared at the mans face, unable to tear himself away though he no longer wished to look. The mans face was horribly deformed, almost as if had been decaying while his heart was still beating. The skin was lumped and a charred looking brown streaked with black, dotted with a bright crimson patchs where the skin had compleatly receeded, revealing the muscle underneath. The top lip looked as if it was curling upwards, showing yellow, rotting teeth, forcing he mans face into a horrible grimace. The skin around the brown infected face was a sick yellow, leaking white puss that froze in the snow.

Jack remembered Black touching the mans face, but he couldnt see THIS through the snow. Could Black have done this? The man obviously had some sort of illness. He grew fearful of Black, he knew the things Black Plague had caused were terrible, but actually SEEING something like this, was something looked off into the direction he followed her from there. something still nagged at the back of his mind. The mans face scared him to the bone, but, he could not stop thinking about Black herself. He wanted to talk to her, face to face, without the other Guardians, though every fiber in his body wanted to keep away from her. 


	3. A visit to Tooth palace

Jack sat on a small ledge covered in snow. He could see over the blanketed forest and the outskirts of the city, reviving itsself from the drawn out blizard. Jack tapped his staff on the rock and made little doodles in the snow. He had no idea how he was going to talk to Black when just finding her seemed an impossible task. He remembered the first time he saw her, she almost seemed scared of him. He rememebered hey wide, glowinf crimson eyes, and mouth slightly open in a shocked ghasp. He remembered the way she swept her staff, dissapearing in a whisp of smoke and a black flash, almost shadow like.

It was obvious from talking to Santa that she wasnt well liked, and it was obvious why. The other guardians were around longer than he was, and Blakc plague had been around for centuries, so maybe they knew where she lived, or at the very least could tell him more about her. He knew Santa would not want to talk more about her, with the way he acted last time, and he knew Bunnymunds problalby would not want to talk about her much wither. He could barely understand Sand man so he was out of the question. Tooth Fairy was always light hearted, and she was always willing to help a friend, hopefully he could get at least a few answeres from her. Or better yet he could see Blacks memories through her baby teeth.

He took off in the blink of an eye, gliding on the chilled december air. The snow flurries in the air fluttered around him as he flew, heading for Tooth Island as fast as he could. The flight took a few hours, but he didnt really notice. He didnt really notice anything, he had too much on his mind. Black, his odd interest in her, that horribly disfigured man in the ally way, he didnt even notice when he finnaly did arive. The castle, though it has suffered terribly during its invasion by Pitch, looked as glorious as it had the first time he had seen it. He stooped briefly to admire it. Tall, with many towers and rooms, almost a sold gold speckled with elegant purple rooks and window ledges, etched with intracit designs that curved and swirled up the sides of the towers. The air was filled with tiney flitteres as the smaller fairy folk went about their jod, bringing in teeth and taking small quarters to give to the children.

The entire castle glistened and glittered in the sun. He swooped in and quickly found his friend, frantically giving orderers to her workers, flittering in a cricle like a humming bird. He laughed as she circled him several times without aknowlaging his presence. At the sound of his laughter, she did a double take, before flittering to him. " OH Jack! Hi How are you its been- 4242 Walaby way sidney OH 6789..." She continued to give adresses for her little fairies to travel to, it was her job, and kids loose teeth every day in every continent. Jack didnt kind much, he knew how hard she works. He was still sore from devivering to one continent months ago, and he had the others help! Tallking with her was a bit of a problem though. He never knew when he actaully had her attention.

" Hey Tooth, I found..another Imortal and she-"

" 38744 Brooklyn drive, 1313 munster lane," tooth issued.

" Shes kind of weird but I was wondering if-"

" 4 privit Drive, oh and apartment b in shady oaks, "

" I want to know if you knew anything about her-"

"1813 Adams road, 1492 Colombus drive,"

" Her, her name is Black Plague..."

At the sound of her name, all the little flittering of fairies ceased, and Tooth herself stopped for once. " O.k., O.k. girls we've got orders to fill!" She urges and the others flittered off faster than Jack could blink. " Where, where did you hear that name? " Tooth stuttered." I uh- I saw her. I just wanted to-" " Jakc, stay away from her!" Tooths wings fluttered frustratingly, beating at an irregular pace. " But-" " Jack, she brings nothing but death and fear!" " But she didnt look so bad when I saw her, she-she actually looked scared! " Jack argued. Tooth stared long and hard at him, trying to keep a strait face. Come with me Jack. " She fluttered off quickly, don a corridor and up a tall tower. She came to a stop at a room at the very top, and rushed him inside.

The room was empty, exept for a small dusty deas, made of dark rotting wood. The room itself stood out from the entire castle. Insted of shinning gold and royal decorations or elegent tapestries, this room was a dull gray, cobblestone walls held dozons of spider webs and dirt, and the concrete floor was cracked and stained with dark pools. Tooth slowly opened one of the droors in the desk. Inside was a single canaster Jack reconized was for holding Teeth. " There used to be two in her. Hers, and Pitch's. He took his and kept it, or destroyed it, Idont know, but they were never recovered after he raided the castle. " tooth's eyes seemed distant, re-living having to watch her home crumble in on itself. After a time, she handed the canaster to Jack. I think this will help you understand. Jack carefully too the canaster and held it in his hands, turning it over and over between his palms. He ran a thumb over her picture on the end of it. He slowly opened it and was engulfed in a white light, only to be thrown back into darkness. 


	4. Blacks Past

The room around Jack spin and swirled, glowing in a pure snow white, before shutting itself back into a deep black. Jack no longer felt as if he were in a room or anywhere else for that matter. He could feel the ground beneath his feet but he could not see it or actauly register it was there. Around him there was only a deep abysmal darkness, that neither had a beginning nor end. Jack himself didnt move, but he felt as if his hand was rising, trying to grasp onto any thing it could desparetly trying to find a life line to pull itself from the blackness. When Jack blinked he opened his eyes to a terrible scene. He found himself on the outskirts of a small town, standing on a chilled dirt path, freashly cleared of a winters snow. In front of him lay a concrete foundation of what once was a home, now reduced to nothing more thana few charred logs of wood, and ashed remains of ones personal belongings. Jack could see a few pieces of cloth and silver under a blanket of ash, dotted with a few specs of white as it began to snow slowly.

Jack didnt know what to make of it all. There was nothing left here for him, or anyone else. He ghasped as a pile of ash began to swirl against the light breeze, twisting faster and faster, rising up from the earth a few small feet. A palehand shot out from the blurred cyclone of ashes, and slamed on the ground, looking desperetly for something to grasp. After clinging onto a large root of a fallen tree, a figure began pulling itself up from the ash. A mess of long black hair fell forward, followed by a pale, naked body of a girl. the ash around her began surrounding her once more, flowing over her skin like water. The girl stayed as still as rock, breathing hevily as the ash settled, forming a strange black cloak that covered her almost compleatly. She stood on her knees examining her hands as if seeing them for the first time, tuning them over and over, slowly moving her fingers, grasping at nothing. Her nails were a darkened blue and purple, matching her almost dead looking felt the new fabric encasing her body, ghosting over herself gently as if the wrong move could hurt herself.

The root she clutched began twisting and slithering like a snake, pulling itself free of the ground and straitening. A trickle of frost on the tip of the branch began to shimmer and shine, almost gem like. It burried itself into a small knotch on the end of the staff, glowing a magnificent white.

Her arms began to shake, and she clutched her forehead as if in great pain. Her breathing became labored and fast and she fell over, bent over in a bow amoung the snowy ground. She became almost illuminated in pale, almost devine white light. Jack didnt need to look to know what it was. Black turned her face to the sky, and almost instantly her breathing steady. Her crimson eyes glew like embers in a fire. She stared for what seemed like hours, lying on her back unmoving, compleatly absorbed in the moons light. It wasnt until a faint voice calling did she ever stir. " Kida?" She whispered. The call came again, just barely louder than the first. " Agatha!" Black smiled. " Kida! " She yelled. She stumbled to get up, and began fighting the snow, running tword the voice. A small girl running the opposite direction down a small hill called frantically. " Agatha! Aggy!" " Kida!" Black laughed.

The small girl was dressed in a thin white gown, Jack guessed it was some kind of nightwear and wondered how such a little girl could brave the cold in that. The girl, ' Kida' Jack figured, had waist leangth brown hair, and shimmering blue eyes. Black fell to her knees, arms wide open for the girl. Jack knew what was coming. Long before it happened. Kida ran strait through Black, as if she wasnt there. for a second, Blacks arms just hung there in the air, unmoving. Blacks red eyes were open wide, not understanding. Her dead like lips slightly open,revealing four sharpened canines. Blacks arms droped and she spun up to face kida, her cloak flowing outwards, sending a single wave of smoke over the snow. They both watched, Jack and Black, as Kida dashed to the burnt remains of the house, tears flowing down her face that matched Blacks.

" Kida, Kida im here!" Black called. Black ran to her, and Jacks heart broke, knowing it was useless. He knew Kida could no longer see her, Black didnt exist to her anymore. She was no longer ' Agatha'. She was Black. Black Plague. Black fell to her knees beside Kida, choking on quiet, confused sobs." Kida!" Black placed a hand on the girld shoulder, and to Jacks Amazment, it stopped. It didnt go strait through like it should have, like it did a few moments ago. Jack didnt understand. At the touch of Black's hand, Kida began to cough, slightly at first, but then fell in am all out fit. Black recoiled her hand as if it burned her, and Kida's coughing stopped. The poor girl breathed hevily, trying to regain her breath. Jack heard an older voice calling Kida, but the scene began blurring and morphine itself before his eyes.

Jack found himself inside a small cottage, lighted dimly by a few candles. A small wood framed bed sat against the wall, close to a fire burning in a large hole in the wall. Two nightsands on the end of the bed held a few glasses and bowls of water, some tainted a light pink. a few bottles of multi colored liquid covered shelves on the walls. The bed was compleatly covered in two quilts, much too large for the bed itself. Jack thought it was empty at first, but soon the mass of fabric began to stir, and he heard a few weak coughs. The quilts parted to reveal a small paleish face, cheek bones showing and eyes surrounded by a sickly green substance. around the lips were small abrasions, and some of her flesh looked dead and rotting.

Jacks heart caught in his throut. It was Kida! the little girl was barely able to move, and the smell of the room was almosts to much for Jack. A dark shadowy flash appeared on the wall behind the bed, slowly crawling down onto the floor. The blackess rose in a blurred haze of smoke, and settled to reveal Black, knealing by Kidas bed. She held her hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her face." Kida...I am so sorry!" she whispered through sobs. The door crashed open and an angry heavy set man in filthy overalls pushed a torch into the room. " BEGONE WITCH! LEAVE THIS CHILD ALONE!" Black vanished into another cloud of smoke as the scene once again becan to twist and change again. What was going on? Jack wondered. Black said she was sorry? Did she do this? He remembered when Black touched her shoulder, and sent the little girl into a fit of coughs. That man called her a witch, can she be seen now?

The image changed, and he saw Black running through the dirt paths of some village, kicking up puffs of whispy black smoke in her path. He could hear angry shouts from further down the path, and see a soft glow of firelight. He heard things like," Witch" and " Deviless " and other vulgar things being shouted. Black clutched the staff in the hand, and Jack wondered why she didnt just, shadow herself away again. She ran until she hit the outside of the village, and weaved her way through the trees of the forest, going as far away from the village as she could. She began climbing the side of a large hill, loosing footing here and there, but refusing to stop or even slow her pace. Jack could see the heat of her breath show in the frozon air around her, and see her fingers were being dug raw, trickling small scarltdrops of blood.

When she reached the top, she found a rock legde that juts out, just far enough to overlook the village. She collapsed there, sobbing into her smoky cloak. She watched the far off lights of torches dance within the village, dissapearing inside various buildings. Jack felt another presence, and a dark shadow that riveld Blacks approched from behind, He knew who it was, and it sent shivers down his spine. A swirling mass rose from the ground behind Black, slowly forming itself into the shape of a man. Pale faced, dark, unruely hair, cruel eye, and a sadistic grin. Pitch. 


	5. Pitch!

Jack watched, unable to move a muscle as the tall pale devil inched closer and closer to Black. He wanted to warn her, to scream to do something that would alert her, but these were mere memories, shadows of things that have been. Nothing he does now can or will change anything. Pitch held the same cruel gaze as he did the first time Jack met him. Almost snake like in nature, sending a shiver to anyone who dare look into them. He watch as Pitch quietly stalked closer to Black, extending a pale, boney hand like a talon to Black. He gently gripped her shoulder, causing her to ghasp lightly and spin around to face him, still on her knees overlooking the village. her eyes shone with unfallen tears, making the glittering red orbs shimmer even more. Jack's heart felt as if it was being squeezed within an iron grip. He didnt dare move though it would make little diference now.

" There there little Black," Pitch cooed. His voice was soft and deep, slightly rhaspy, like a harsh wind cutting across the trees. He knelt beside Black, who cringed away in fear. " I am not here to hurt you Black. " He still touched her shoulder lightly. " How-How do you know my name? " She whispered. He smiled in a way that Jack didnt think possible. The smile was kind, almost genuine. Almost. Jack knew Pitch better. " Because I am like you, Black. I am a legend, dispised by many, including this village that you once called home. I, am Kozmotis Pitchiner. But you may call my Pitch. " He smiled again. Loud crys grew from the village. For a moment, the two just sat there, listening to the undecernible voices carried off by the wind. " These people care not for us. I suppose you have learned that by now. " Pitch's grasp on her shoulder tightened slightly, but Black did not look up from her village. " Wh do they dispise us so? I did not mean why I did, and I dont wish for it to happen again but-" Her eyes began tearing up again. " I-I just dont know how to stop..." Pitch rubbed her shoulder gently. " Why do they hate us? Why cant I-I just stop and-"

Pitch took her by both shoulders, turning her to face him. " But why should you stop? You have seen their hatred first hand! This is what you were made for Black, You and I, to rid the world of these insects not worthy of the lives they lead now," He turned her to the village, ignited by a few torchs lining the outskirts of the village. He took her staff between both hands, and held it out infront of her, compleatly trapping her between it and himself. " You were given the tools you need for the job you were created for. " she gently took her staff, lightly brushing her hands against his. " What WE were created for Black. You and I, by a higher power, to destroy this world, so a new genesis can begin, one without the hatred they so unfairly burden you with. " He grasped her shoulders once more, as they both watched the village isnight slowly by torches, angry cries of warning sounding out, becoming buried in the snowy wind.

Her tired, sorrowful eyes scanned the village. " We were made for this? " She looked up to the sky, filled with clouds, looking desperetly in vain for the moon. Pitch held out his hand, a small flicker of smokey shadows dancing on his palm. Black watched in amazment as a small horse leaped from his palm, prancing a circle around them before dissapearing within his hand once more. The voices of the villages rang out more clearly than they ever have, much too clear for them to hear form such a distance. They shouted things much like they were when they chshed Black from the village. " Devilress! " " Black Witch! " " monster! " " Murderer! " " succubas! " and much more rang out. At every word screamed Black flinched, sending more tears cascading down her face through she did not cry.

" They hold nothing but hate for those who are different, Black. That is why they hate us. That is why they must be destroyed." Pitch whispered in her ear. He touched her back lightly, and the contact made Jack sick for somereason. More sick than he had felt when he saw that man in the ally. He hated the way he touched her, though he could not place why. They had not harmed her, in any way. Maybe it was just because he knew Pitch was truely evil. He reasoned. Black Stood slowly, as if it hurt to move. Pitch followed, but stayed back a step. He smiled wickedly, sending a chill down Jacks spine as Black raised her staff on one hand. The jewl Embeded near the tip ignighted, turning from its devine white to a sickening black and purpleish glow. A string of shimmering black aura erupted from the gem, slowly rising tword the sky. Pithces smile grew wide and darkened as the stream suddenly darted off, heading for the center of the village. It struck the ground, sending a pulse of black rings through the village, washing over evey building or plant every crack and crevece in the brick and cobble stones.

Jack watched as Pitch and Black faded away, and time seemed to speed up within the village. Days went by as seconds, and every second held more horrors. He watched as one by one the towns people grew hidious tumors, or watched as their flesh slowly receded and decayed away, reavaling bright red muscle or in some cases bone. The village grew sicker and sicker, loosing many men women and children every day. He hear the coughs slowly escalate until he could barely hear himself thing. The streets wreaked with the stench of dead and decaying bodys which littered the cobblestones everywhere. Jack shut his eyes as the coughs and wheezes and grans of pain cying for deliverance overcame him until everything was silent.  
When he opened his eyes, Jack saw Pitch, Cradeling Black in his arms. They layed beside a large rock wall, still covered in snow. He stroked her hair as she nuzzled closer to his chest. " My little Black, seventeen villages. " He smiled darkly. she placed a hand on his chest, as he ran a hand up her back and cradled the bakc of her head. There it was again. That absoloutly sick feeling the contact between those too hit Jack like a train. The way he holds her, its so..." Jack didnt have quite the word for it. ad the ones that came to mind made him feel worse. What going on between them? He wondered. 


	6. The Black Death Ends

Jack watched as the scene turned, finding himself back inside the sickened village. Black Walked in that familiar elegant gait, her legs barely disturbing the cloak around her, leaving absoloutly no prints behind her. She surveyed the streets with cold, unmoving eyes. A woman cradeling something to her chest bumped into her, speeding off to one of the many buildings lining the paths. Black turned, furious, but her face softened into an almost curious expression. She watched as the Woman banged furiously on a door, until an old elderly couple answered, covering their mouths with a cloath. He couldnt hear what the woman was saying, she was sobbing violently, but handed the bundle she was carying off to them. They took it immidietly, and said something that was muffled by the cloth.

Black watched with widened eyes as the woman turned, revealing blackened lumps of deformed flesh on her face. Tears of scarlet liquid ran down her face as the innocent sobbing of a child came from the bundle. Jack could see Black chest rias and fall greatly as her breathing became shallow and heavy. She searched the streets, and saw two other woman, holding each other, sobbing quietly into each others shoulders. They were caring for each other! Jack thought. He and Black both searched the streets. He saw people taking care of others, from small acts like giving little twigs of posey to ward off the sickness, to giving infected persons blankets, though they did go out of their was to avoid physical contact. Blacks breathing became frantic as she spun around. " Isnt it marvolous? " A familiar, raspy whisper sounded in Jacks ear. Black spun around, glaring into the Shadows. Pitch stepped out of a blurrd mass of smokey whisps. " All this, is becaues of you." He smiled.

Black balled her hands into fists, the smokey ends of her cloak blurred into a frenzy. " Pitch, they are careing for one another," " Ah yes, the doomed crowded together, all holding on to the last flicker of life," Pitch circled Black, smieling wickedly at the ill and dead lying in the streets. " You told me they would turn on each other! That they were incapable of love! Look at them Pitch! " She gestured to the two women holding each other. The two woman shook in fear, watching Black yell at Pitch. Pitch sneered at her. " They dont matter, they are beneath you! You were created to destroy them! " He smiled, and chuckled lightly under his breath. " In fact, you did this to them! " He held out a had, motioning to the chaos in the streets. Black watched with wide eyes at the dead bodies, covered in tumors, rotting away, mising articeles of clothing stolen by the infected, suffering away as they slowly decay alive, coughing up blood and struggling to even breath.

Pitch lightly cluthced her shoulders again. " You were made for this Black. You and I. " Black stared at the crystal, a dark black, barely glowing at the end of her staff. " No. " She shispered. " What? " Pitch snareled. " NO! " Black shook herself free of Pitch, and jabbed him with it, sending him tumbling back on his feet. He fell to the cobblestones with a loud angry grunt. " You tricked me into this! They arent worthless like you say they are! they care for one another! They arent the monsters here, WE ARE! " Black held her staff over her head threteningly. " BLACK, DONT! " Pitch yelled, extending a hand tword her. She brought the staff down hard on a street pole, shaking the flame of the candle. The crystal shattered, and a single shard fell lightly to the ground. Pulses of white light radiated off it, washing over the village. Jack felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt like his entire body had been clensed.

" NO! " Pith growled. He picked Black up by her neck. She dropped her staff in shock, and began holeplessly clawing at his hands, clamped tightly around her thout. He lifted her off the ground and slammed her against a building, pinning her body there with his own. He ran a hand up her thigh to her waist. " You and I are going to create a new race Black. I tried doing this the easy way. He held out his free hand to her staff, causing it to fly into his palm. He trapped both Blacks hands against the wall suspened above her head. Jack's stomach dropped as he watched Pitches body roll into hers as she whimpered fearfully. Pitch bit sharply into her neck. Black shut her eyes and balled her fists. Her hands began to glow a soft white, which spread over the entire staff. It shuddered one, and in a bright flash of light, sent Pitch flying. Black dropped to the ground, coughing, struggling from the damage Pitchs had done. Jack saw her neck was already bruised, and two crimson cresents shone out against her pale skin where he had bitten her. She frantically grasped for her staff, still fighting off coughs.

Pitch lunged for her just after she managed to grab it. In one sweep, she dissapeared into a black mass just as Pitch was about to reach her. The scene blackened and morphed again. He saw Black standing on a large ledge, far greater than the one she first fled to. Looking over, Jack could see for miles, few villages peaking out from feilds of snow, lighting the night. Blacks eyes dripped with tears. She raised her staff, and shut her eyes. The shattered crystal glowed a devine white, and sent small waves slowly down the side of the cliff, going so far off in the distance Jack lost sight of them. She stood for several minuets, and began swaying. Her knees began to shake, and she collapsed. She began coughing again, holding a hand over her mouth, thin streams of crimson blood slipping between her fingers. She fell forwad, and spit something onto the rock. Jack saw a small baby tooth laying in a blood stained heap of snow, then the image faded.

He found himself back in the room with tooth, waiting patiently with saddened eyes. Jack stayed silent, letting everything he saw sink in. It sent even more questions running through his mind. " Pitch, he-" " He used her. He persuaded her to start the sickness that earned her her name. " " So it isnt her fault why cant we just-" " Jack it isnt her fault exactly, but she still was the cause of it. And its not that simple to talk with her. " Tooth whispered calmly. " Jack she is the embodyment of illness. No one, not even the guardians can get close without becoming sick. One look in her eyes is all it takes." Jack remembered the first time he saw Black. " But Iv looked into her eyes before and Im fine! And Pitch-" " YOU'VE SEEN HER EYES!" Tooth covered her mouth. " IM fine look at me! " Jack thought for a minuet. " maybe she is better, maybe shes more in control of herself!" " It doesnt matter Jack," Tooth said still confused " Its too dangerous." " But we cant die we're" " Thats just it Jack, we CANT die." Toth shook her head sadly. " Jack, if she infects us, we can never pass from it. We would be suffereing day and night with no end. "

Jack stopped as it sunk in. " So thats it? Shes-shes just doomed to walk around alone for the rest of her life? " Tooth frowned. " It doesnt seem fair Jack, but thats the way it has to be. she isnt like you, she is a danger to everyone around her." Jack balled his fists. He knew what it was like to be alone, but, he had always hung around kids. Though they could not see him, he at least had some form of company. Black couldn't do that. He remembered the girl he saw Black with. " The girl, Kida-" " Her sister, and the first to become ill and die of the Plague. " Tooth looked to the ground. Jacks heart stopped. He thought of his sister, and how he died protecting her. He thought of the staff, similar to his own, and the odd crystal now hidden under cloth wrappings. " That staff, she had, what exactly does it do?" He asked. " It spread the sickness for her. She destroyed it so that it couldnt be used to hurt anyone again." " So why are there still disieses people die from them every day!" Jack snapped. " Because its nature Jack, People have died from disieses long before Black was even created, just like it snowed long before you became Jack Frost. She cant afford to stay in one place or long though, or it will start spreading again."

Jack mulled it over. He remembered the man in the alley. " I saw her do..something to a dead man in an alley. He looked sick but when she touched his face this-this weird..." Jack searched for the right words to describe what he saw. " That was the mans life. " Tooth whispered. " Because she destroyed the gem in her staff, it can become difficult for a diseise to compleatly take someones life sometimes. She must have thought he couldnt take it anymore, so she... ended his suffering. " Tooth looked sick to her stomach. Black took the life of man dying out in the blizzard. The blizzard HE created. It never struck him that he could possibly be responsible for the death of many who could not have taken the cold. Something else tugged at his mind though, something he heard Pitch say.

" Pitch said something when he...before Black stopped the plague." He could not bring himself to talk about what Pitch almost did to Black. " Pitch and Black share similar powers, but the both also have abilities unique to themselvs, things that the other cant do. Pitch wanted Black as a partner to use her, but he also wanted to combine their powers, and create an entire race that combined both of their powers." A shiver ran down Jacks spine. If they had a child, then Pitch would have been almost unstoppable. His heart sank. She had to deal with all of this alone, Pitchs betrayal, the realization of what she had done,what Pitch almost did, and still he could not help her or he would become infected.

He remembered the final image he saw. " That last part, that was Black stopping the spreadding of the plague? " Tooth nodded. " So why did that hurt her? She ended up spitting out-" " Her last baby tooth. " Tooth nodded slowly. " In order to stop what she had started, she had to let go of everything, what happend with Kida, pitch, what she had done, even the life she had before. She would have to accept her isolation and leave everything of her past behind. That tooth was the last bit of herself there was left, so when she stopped the plague it was torn from her. " The more Jack thought about it, the more sick he got to his stomach. She had been through hell and back, wandering from place to place ending the life of the sick if they could no longer take it. Jack wasnt alone anymore, but Black was, and no matter what he did, he couldnt help her.

No. He thought. Tooth said all it took was one look in her eyes to become sick, but he did and he was fine! Maybe she learned to controll herself, it had been centuries scince the plague, who knows! he thanked Tooth, and began to take his leave. " Jack," She called. " just- just dont forget what I told you, stay away from Black or..." Jack nodded. He lept from a window, gliding on the wind. He didnt know where he was going to find her, but he was more sure than he ever had. He was going to find her, and he was going to talk to her. 


	7. A Gift from a Friend

Jack paced on the very top of a hill, covered in sparkling white snow. He froze intracet patters of ice, weaving elegantly withing each other, covering the entire surface of a large boulder. The patters took a reconizable form, not quite a solid figure, rather an outline filled with curling strings of thin ice. The icey silouet of a girl, with ling flowing hair and large staff clutched in one hand stared back at Jack as he admired his work, almost taunting its own creator. It had been weeks scince he had visited Tooth, and uncovered Blakcs past, and he has yet to see hide nor tail, nor even the whispy black traes of smoke from her cloak. He knew she could not be within a city for long, or she will begin to spread her awful sickness again, wether she wanted too or not, so he had glided around forests for hours, stoping only when it was too dark to see an inch in front of his own nose.

He paced back and forth trying to think. He worried that she had gone to another continent entierly, and he was just wasting his time searching this one. A loud booming laugh from above startled him. A familiar " Ho Ho Ho! sounded over the night, piercing through the howling winds. A large red flash dashed over Jack, and he waved as it passed by. It was christmas eve, and his friend North was hard at work. A small objects fell from the sky, landing safely in a large pile of snow. Curious, Jack picked it up, and examined it. IT was a snow white box, trimmed in silver curls that mimiced Jacks own icey artwork. A small blue bow was tied at its center, bearing a small white tag with Jacks name. He smiled to himself. Good ole didnt forget him this holiday. He would have to thank him later, when he wasnt working at delivering gifts.

Jack carefully tore into the package, alost not wanting to destroy the beautiful, silver lined papers. Inside, a small, clear sphere was nestled safely inside a nest of tissure paper, dotted with tiney silver specks. Jack picke it up gently, and turned it in his palms. It was a simple, clear glass ball, nothing special as far as Jack could tell. Jack held it closer to his face squinting at it. It was from North, so there must be a purpose to it. He thought of Norths workshp, and the many toys that seemed to have a mind of its own. As he thought more of his friend, a small light appeared inside the ball. Jack stopped and watched curiously, but it vanished. Jack pondered this, and came up with an idea. He held the ballfirlmy in his hands, and concentrated on North, his red suite, his big sleigh, his reindeer and his many beautiful creations he passed out to the childred. The more Jack Concentrated, the brighter the light got, and soon Jack could make out an image. He could see North himself, riding along in the sleigh, slapping the reigns, urging his reindeer to go faster.

Jack could feintly see the landscape sroung him, the city lights whizzing by at the speed of light. Jack laughe dot himself. This was a way of watching his friends! He could be anywhere, bringing snowdays to kids and still have a connection to his friends wherever they were. He made a mental note to thank North, when he wasnt working on delivering gifts. He turned the glass ball over in his palm, thinking on how clever his friend was when it hit him. He might be able to see Black with this! He held the ball firmly as he could, and concentrated on Black. He replayed the images from her past, from the moment she rose from the ash, to the time she fought Pitch, to the time she ended the plague. The light was very feint, and he found it becoming difficult to force another image. He remembered teh first time he saw her, pacing back and forth upon the ice covered lake, her legs barely disturbing hr cloak as she walked. He could almost see her, standing in the snow, as if she were right there with him. He could see her long raven hair, her glowing red eyes, tiney pale hands gently clutching her staff, hiding the shattered gem beneath strips of white cloth.

The light within the ball turned darker, an ashy gray fog twisted and turned, writhing inside the ball. It grew even darker as memories of her flooded Jacks mind. He thought of the gentle way she touched the mans cheek in the ally way, and the tears she shed as her sister ran strait through her, and the eart broken expression on her face when she visited her sister on her death bed. A soft, almost translucent image apeared in the ball, growing brighter, an diming over and over again. He could see her now, not fully, but well enough. He felt a stronge pressure press against him as he strained to keep the image. She's in a town, but, that doesnt make sense! He thought. The srea around Black was indeed a street, filled with buildings, but the longer Jack looked, the more he noticed was not right. Buildings were borded up, broken glass was strewn about, most buildings were either severly damaged or were compleatly walled up with rotting pieces of lumber. ' Closed ' signs were eveywhere, and not a single street light was lit.

" Its a ghost town." Jack realized. Black could not live amoun the mortals, so she took to living in a ghost town. He thought. he searched and searched for some kind of clue as to where exactly she was, but the image began fading as the stress proved too much. He caught sight of her again, sitting crossed legged in the middle of a street cluttered with litter and debre. She held her staff in one hand, and held out the other, extending it to some shadowy creature Jack could not make out. She looked to the sky, allowing their eyes to meet briefly. Jack caught a glimse of shining crimson, before the surface of the glass cracked. She image receeded quickly, and the last thing Jack saw was a small sign, a few letters missing, but you could still tell what it said.

" Welome, to Bodie. " 


	8. Snowball Fight

Welcome to Bodie.

The very last thing he saw before the image dissapeared, and the glass itself cracked. Jack ghasped, turning the ball in his hands carefully, rubbing a thumb gently over the tiney crack in its surface. The crack split off in three seperet diractions, twisting and darting off in all sorts of ways. It wasnt very big, but Jack still worried if it would affect the images. Jack concentrated on North again, finding suprisingly easy to draw an image. It was as clear as the first time, and he was relieved to find the crack had not damaged the orbs preformance. He thought of the image he had seen, and shook off the exausted feeling weighing down on his shoulders. Why had conjuring an image of Black take so much energy? What was that..that weight I felt? Jack thought. Why doenst it happen when I try seeing North?

The thoughts were short lived, and the confusion soon forgoten, he knew where she was! Well, sort of. He knew of an old town called Bodie in California, USA, but he had no idea where it actually was. He resolved to head to the states, and from thre try and find a map, or a book, or something. He knew it wasnt the best plan, he could be seen now people believed in him, but he couldnt let that happen. It was against the Guardins code. He would have to find this place, no map, and without getting seen. He lifted off the ground into the air, staff in hand and glided on the wind. He knew it wasnt the best plan, but it was his only choice if he wanted to see Black again.

He rode on wind currents for nearly three days to reach californias coast. He could see the big bridge in San Fransisco light up the night sky, and the glowing from the city itself almost made it seem as if it were day. San Fransisco. He thought. At least I know where I am now. He felt the orb safely tucked away in his pocket, and debated wether he should try seein Black again, but he worried about cracking it even more. The crack remained unchanged threw the entire flight, and Jack counted himself lucky for that. There was absoloutly no way Jack would be able to hide in a city like San Fran, so he took to gliding around it, which was no easy task. The city was enormous, and lit up like christmas. Jack gave the city a wide birth, escaping the light within a maze of trees.

He came to a few emptie roads, and followed them, unsure of what else to do. He no longer flew, out of fear of being seen, and took the time he spent walking thinking of dead end ideas and hopelessplots of how to find Bodie. That was, if Bodie California was the correct Bodie. He knew of many places, but he never really bothered to learn the names. He simply went where he felt he was needed, or where it seemed he could stir up trouble or have fun. He didnt see the need to travel to sny ghost towns, nor did he really pay attention to them. The longer he walked the more his stomach sank. This is ridiculos, what am I just supposed to wander aimlessly like this through the whole-" A sign caught his eyes. Neon green, it stood out even in the darkness of night. It had a few places listed where a car could stop and refuel, or a family could stop and eat, but what caught Jacks eye was the name of one of the citys the turns could take you.

A white arrow pointing off slightly to his right sat under bold white letters. BODIE. JAck smiled. What luck! At least, until he read the sign furthur. He would either have to risk flying, or walk 87 miles. He sighed to himself. No way he was waling that distance, so he raised his staff, and took off into the night. He stared as low to the ground as possible, ready to land if a car should appear. Every once in a while, one would, forcing him to hit the hard ground, and duck off into the brush. In a few hours he was covered in scratches, and his blue sweater was covered in dirt. After a short while longer, he stopped seeing cars altogether, and a small town came into sight.

From a distance, it seemed to be physicaly dead, like the life it once held was hrown old and left itself. Unlike San Fransisco, it was compleatly void of light, only being illuminated by the full moon, givng it an eerie glow. Jack felt the hairs in the back of his neck rise just looking at it. What buildings he could see in the night were crumbling, missing complete sides of the walls, revealing rooms filledwith broken dusty furniture and furthur decay. One buildings roof and collapsed in on itself, crushing everything on the inside. Jack swallowed hard, and continued down the road, now made of dirth, crumching under his feet, into the town long forgotten.

The deeper Jack walked into the town, condition in buildings worsened. Neglected and left to the elements, every single building was rotting, and crumbling, some even toppled over into neghboring houses, taking out walls and windows. The dirt road held fragments on cobblestones until Jack finnaly found an entire cobblestone path, ridged and uneven, litter strewn about carelessly. Every inch of the town was covered in a light blanket of snow, barely covering anything, compleatly contrasting the feet of snow buring the forest. The white snow did not shine like it had in the forest, rather sat there adding to the dullness of the town under it. The sun began to rise, illuminating ore decaying houses. Jack felt as is he was being watched but not form Black herself, he was sure. He felt as if every broken window, evey door splintered in, held some sort of life force, watching his every move.

The sun rose higher, and he could not find Black. He knew she wouldnt want to see him, and last time he called after her, she fled, so he didnt want to risk calling her name. He began to fear that in the week it took im to arrive here, she had moved on. He came to the edge of some houses, revealing a clearing of snow. He was about to turn back, and find another road, but he caught a flicker of black whisps in the corner of his eye. near the edge of the clearing, before a consuming forest began, sat a pond, frozon solid, half surrounded by trees from the forest, almost hiding it. Under one of them, sat a girl in a long black cloak, clutching a long staff in one hand.

Jack felt heat rise in his cheeks. This was it! The girl he travled thousands of miles to find, and now here she stood...and he had NO idea what to say. He was focused on finding the elusive spirit, and yethe never once thought of what to say when he finnaly caught her. She simply sat,legs crossed indian style, clutching the staff in one hand , and the other holding something in her lap that she was compleatly absorbed in. He searched his mind for ideas, but he could thin of nothing. The first time he saw her, and called out, she ran off, so he couldnt do that again, or he would have to start another wild goose chase. He thought back to his visions of her past, and it struck him. Every time she vanished into the shadows, she alwasy had her staff in hand. She scrabbled for it before fleeing when Pitch attacked her, but scince the stone imbeded in the wood was broken, therefore usless, it had no real value to her anymore. She should have left it and ran to safety, after all she only just managed to grasp it and dissapear before Pitch had a hold of her again. Maybe she CANT unless she has her staff. Jack though, and he soon got an idea, and formed a plan. He ducked behind a pile of snow, creeping closer to the tree where she rested.

Black took no notice to him, far too engaged in the object in her lap. As Jack grew closer, he saw it was a book, bound in leather and quite warn with age and use. Black brushed her hair back, and Jack could see a soft smile on her lips as she read. It was the first time he'd seen her smile, in real life. Though her lips were a dead mixture of blue and purple, her smile was soft, and inviting. four little white dots stuck out from the seam of her mouth, her four pointed canines. Though Jack assumed they ment to be fierce, they added a somewhat playful quality to her grin, like a puppy wanting to play. He sat there watching her read, and gently turn the pages, almost making look like little whisps of wind had turned them. Her smile faded and returned as she read, and every once in a while she would shake lightly as a chuckled, too low for Jack to hear, escaped her lips.

A bird sang somewhere off in the distance, and for the first time in what seemed like hours, Black looked up from her book. she looked off into the forest, her garnet eyes widedened with whaat looked like curiosity. The bird sang again, and Black smiled once more. jack could not help but smile with her. Though she looked as sick as a dog, dead even, her smile was anything but. From what he knew, she spread diseses, and illness, but insted of the stoik, cold demenor she wore in her past, she looked almost friendly now. If it wasnt for what Tooth had told him, he would never have guessed why so many avoided her. As he watched absorbed in his thoughts, Black st the staff down gently, marked her place in the book, and closed it. She stretched her hands to the sky and gave a great yawn, showing off her wolf-like fangs.

This is it! Jack though, the very thing he was waiting for. He shot up from his hididng place, causing Black to jump up out of shock. She made a dive for her staff, but with a simple gesture of his hand, Jack froze it, in a block of solid ice. Astoished, Black jumped back and hid herself partialy behind a tree. " You shouldnt be here! Leave me alone! " Jack approched slowly, one foot quietly in front of the other, staff lowered in his hand. She made no eye contact, but with every step Jack took, she hid herself more and more behind the tree. " I am not here to hurt you," Jack whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

" The last time someone said that to me it caused the death of many, now unfreeze my staff and go away!" Her voice was highpitched and shaky, but at her threat, she peaked more around the trunk of the tree, and barred her fangs at him. For once Jack was afraid, but her stood his ground, and kept inching tword her. " Please," He said, " I just want to talk." " Talk? To me? Ill kill you with a single look, now go! " She shouted. " Iv already seen your eyes, remember? " She finnaly looked up from the snowy ground, and her glowing red eyes shone more than ever. Through the mess of her sotty black hair, they appeared as emberd burning within a fire, but now jack coul truely see them, he saw much more depth within them. He snapped himelf out of it when she grew a weird face. He must have been staring, he blushed.

"You're that boy from the other city, just before the blizzard." She said. Her eyes widened a bit. " You're Jack Frost! You cant be here! You cant or-" She hid herself compleatly behind the tree. " I dont think so. " He said. " Iv looked you in the eyes twice now, but I dont feel any different." He held out his arms and presented himself, smieling gently. She peeked out more form behind the tree. " Then you are simpy lucky, now go before something horrible happends, please!" She looked at him with saddend eyes, forcing her eyes to shine even more with tears. " I dont want to hurt YOU." She whimpered, and hid herself again. Jack knew he was getting no where, and shoved a hand inside his pocket. He let his fingers slide over the silky surface of the glass orb, until they knocked against something else. He clutched a small wooden doll, with large blue eyes dressed in red. The final of a nesting doll set. Norths, " Center ". And he got another idea. He freed Blacks staff, and ducked behind a tree, so that he could not be seen. He peekd around, to watch Black. She gazed about unsure, and almost afraid. Her black bangs almost covered her face compleatly, and she slowly crept out from behind the trunk.

She took her staff carefully, and glanced around nervously, as if she was expecting some sort of trap. She felt the white wrappings with her fingers, making sure what was left of the stone was still beneath them. She turned and began walking silently away, back into the forgotten town of Bodie. He had a plan, an he just hoped she would be out here again the next day to carry it out with him. Jack spent the remainder of the eveninf wandering the forst, creating little designs of ice on tree trunks and boulders. Most of which, were Black. He though of her as he walked, the contrast between her inn his visions, the cold, forgotten girl whi was created out of ash,a nd killed her own sister against her will, to the girl he saw sieling quietly to herself, reading some story, almost content with the loney life she leads out in the middle of nowhere to protect others from herself.

As day turned to night, Jack settled himself on a high tree branch, and watched the stars tick by. He stared at the man on the moon, and wondered. If Black was created like he was, by the man on the moon, then why was she given such a dark purpose? Why was she burdened with such horrible powers she could not even control? Jack could not always be seen, and was always alone save for the other legends, but that was the only reason he WAS alone. He remembered Black being chased out of her village. For some reason, they could see her, and drove her out of her own home. He wondered why the man on the moon had been so cruel, for though Jack was created with a good purpose, ( that of which was not always clear to him ) It seemed to him that Black was created for nothing more than to kill through horrible, torturous sicknesses, even now she does not wish too, must hide herself from civilazation or she will unwillingly infect those around her. Jack could not think of any reason other than that for which Black would have been created. Could the Man on the Moon have a darker side?

Jack let the thoughts slowly end as he began to drift off to sleep. While he slept, he constantly felt is ski crawl, as if something was crawling on him. He did not wake, but his dreams were black, and darkened with re-visions of Blacks past. The nl difference was, he was seeing them all from Blacks eyes, and what she saw was even mmore cruel then what Tooth lat him see. He saw more and more decaying bodies, crying drimson tears and whailing in pain, exteding hand tword him for help that were only swatted away. He walked through the streets with a sicked feeling of triumph, watching the tortured sould around him slowly dye, writhing in pain. He woke up in a sweat as daylight approched. He breathed heaily unable to shake off his dreams. He watched the gray sky pinken and lighten as the sun rose higher.

He shook once, still feeling as if small creatures were climbing on him, their tiny claws digging in his skin as they climed. He jumped off his perch, and hurried off to the dead trees, hiding the little iced pond. He waited there until almost noon, when he had created at least three dozon iced mosaics out of bordom. He finnaly caught sight of her again, Black, walking gracefully back tword the tree, nervously glancing side to side. She clutched the book tightly to her chest, holding on firmly to her staff, ready to whisk herself off at any moment, he would have to time it right. She sat cautiously approched the tree, still sending glances around her. Jack picked up some snow in his hand, rolling it carefully into a ball, and tossing it as lightly as he could at her.

It missed, and insted hit the tree softly, barely able to break up the ball, and fell back into the snow. Glittering whispes of fost whispred in the wind, surrounding Black gently. Black straitened and snapped her head to where Jack stood, clutching the book even more firmly. She did not, however, use her staff to dissapear. Jack stood, hands behind his back, a playful smirk on his face, looking off into the forest, whistling carelessly, clutching another readied ball of snow in his hands. He was turned so his side faced Black, but he was able to watch through the corner of his eyes. She stood as still as death in that spot, switching glances between hi, the snow, and the white fluffy spot on the tree where Jack had hit. After a time of waiting, and listening to his playful whistles, she bent over slowly, and picked up a small handfull of snow, and chucked it at him with one hand, unwilling to drop her staff. He dodged it and hurled his readied snowbal at her, laughing lightly. She ducked just in time, gathering up another ball of white snow and tossing it at him, just as another one was sent her way.

He dodged that one too, and threw a fourth ball at her, which she smacked with her staff like a baseball, sending a shower of snowly flews on both of them. She held a small smile, and chuckled lightly, but Jack was still barely able to hear it. They went back and forth, taking small hits and dodging darting snowballs. Black preformed weaker then Jack did, both for obvious reasons, ( he was Jack Frost after all) and because she still refused to drop her staff. Without realizing it, they began inching their way into the forest, until they were compleatly surrounded by trees, adding more hiding places from the others attacks. They both jumpd out from behind their tree. Jack threw his snowball, but Blakc dodged it empy handed. She swept her staff in front of her, issapearing in a cloud of whispy black smoke and ash. Jack watched suprised, and slightly sad. He was having fun, and thought she was too, she was sieling after all. Why did she-CRACK! a loud crack sounded from above Jack, and in the blink of an eye he was hidded beneath a mountain of snow.

He shook his way out, and heard laughter from high above his head. Black layed across a bare branch, where she had scamered off to, and had shaken all the snow off the branch onto Jack. She covered her mouth with her free hand as she chuckled at Jacks, playful expression of rivalry. It was the first time he heard her laugh, and was suprised on how much it contrasted with her looks. It chimed out, almost song like, causing him to blush slightly. He smirked playfully, and swept his own staff upwards tword her, sending a flurry of snow trailing it. Black jump off at the last second, narily avoiding the snow. She ran on furthur into the woods laughing. Jack followed still sending snowballs at her, which she either dodged or whacked back with her staff. They came to an edge of a cliff, where Black could run no more. She stopped and quickly bent to grab another fistful of snow. Jack followed, being sureto circle around herso they both walked on the edge of the cliff, not wanting her to feel as if he had trapped her there. They both held their snow ammunition over their heads, but just when they were about to attack, another loud CRACK snapped beneath their feet, and the ground under them shuddered and dropped an inch. Niether of them moved. Another loud CRACK snapped, and the ground beneath their feet gave away.  



	9. Alone, and thats the way it has to be

A loud crack sounded from beneath their feet, and the ground dropped an inch from beneath them. They both dropped their snowballs and wobbled to regain their balance. Before either of them could move, the ground cracked again and gave away. They had been standing on a large log, a dead tree that had fallen long ago, and covered in snow overtime. They both fell to their knees and grasped at what they could in the snow. they slid wildly down the cliff, swerving with the rising and falling land and bumping over many rocks and roots of trees. They both exclaimed as they slid, clutching themselves as close to the log as possible, gaining splinters in their hands from the rotting wood. They both looked across at each other hoping the other would have some kind of idea, but both just held the same blank expression. Black stared ahead as the log turned sideways, horizontally flying down the mountain, sending snow in all directions. Black gasped as she saw a large tree, dead center in their path. They both ducked low and braced themselves as the log rammed into the tree. The impact hit with so much force it flung them both off he log into a large pile of snow, hiding them both from sight.

Black was first out, just pulling her head above the snow, her face and hair covered in white patched that stuck to her. She looked around for Jack as he shook the snow from his head. They both just stared at each other, breathing heavily, getting over the shock of having fallen. The corner of Blacks lips turned up slightly, and Jack chuckled softly. They both began to giggle until they were both laughing wildly, rolling in the snow mound. They both looked up the long side of the mountain they just glided down. They must have slid six stories, and hit a hundred rocks. Suddenly, Black stood, and hung her head. " I have to go." She whispered, and quickly glided away, still leaving no footprints in the snow. " Hey but-" " I told you, you are'nt safe around me!" She glared behind her, and continued. He followed her, trotting in front of her and waling backwards, hands behind his head. " I'm not going anywhere, and I'm still o.k." she swerved around him, not meeting his gaze.

" Doesn't make it safe." She whispered, and quickened her pace. " Alright ill make you a deal." He darted back in front of her, blocking her path. She tried going around him, but he stepped in front of her again and again. He stayed close enough so there would be little room to swing her staff. " A deal?" She gave up. " If I can prove to you I'm safe around you, I can stay." He said. " Stay." She repeated unamused. " In Bodie..." She crossed her arms. He realized it did sound rather odd, but it was the only thing he could think of. " Look, Jack, if you stay you could become horribly sick, and never recover, and I cant help you and you cant die. Why on earth would you want to risk that?! She whispered coldy, managing to swerve around him and continue on. Jack racked his mind for something to say, but she was getting farther and farther away, so he decided to just come out with it. " Because I don't like that your so alone out here." She stopped, stiffening her shoulders, without turning around.

" Because I know how that feels, and I believe your more in control now than when you were back then. " He stood where he was, and watched her shoulders slump. She turned her head slightly back, still hiding her face. " People didn't always believe in me, and I wasn't exactly always on good terms with the guardians either. I used to just wander around, place to place watching children play with their friends, I even created snow days so I could watch them all day. They would never see me, they couldn't-" " But now they can." She spun around, fist tightening on her staff. " You don't get it Jack. People used to believe in me too," Jack recalled the mob that chased her from her own village, but didn't say anything. She didn't trust him, and if she knew he watcher her memories at Tooth Castle it would only make things worse. " People used to believe in me too. For a time they could see me like they do you. They called me a witch. Jack I did things, horrible things I can never undo, or make amends for." She grew tears in her eyes that threatened to overflow. " People suffered and died because of me!" Her fist was clenched so tightly her nails drew small droplets of Scarlett blood, and her arm began to shake. " I stopped the plague because I didn't want to hurt anyone anymore, don't you get it! " She glared at him as a single tear dripped down her face. " I stand alone now because I deserve to be alone, and anyone dumb enough to try and change that will die too!..whether I want them to or not... " Her voice shook.

Jack didn't know exactly what to say. She WANTED to be alone.  
She felt she deserved to be alone as some self penance to those she killed, but also thought she could never truly amend for what she had done. " I'm not like you Jack, I don't WANT friends, I CANT have any friends! Now Leave Bodie, Jack, AND DON'T COME BACK! " She swept her staff in front of her, and he watched as she vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Jack didn't know what to do. He figured she was like him, and just alone, but that's the way she wanted it. But that feeling something was wrong still nagged at the back of his mind. He didn't believe Black truly meant what she said. They were having fun for a while, before she tried to leave. She said she cast herself out because she deserved it, and because she will infect those around her, but he was sure she was in more control. He looked her in the eyes, something that was said to be a death sentence, and now he spent time with her, and he felt fine! The only time he ever felt ill around her was the first time he saw her, for that few minuets before he was able to shake it off, when she didn't know he was paced back and forth thinking. He was absolutely sure she had learned to control herself, or at least the affects of being around her had word off after centuries, even if she herself didn't believe it. She also said that she was alone because she deserved to be. He remembered a part of Blacks past.

" There there little Black," Pitch cooed. His voice was soft and deep, slightly raspy, like a harsh wind cutting across the trees. He knelt beside Black, who cringed away in fear. " I am not here to hurt you Black. " He still touched her shoulder lightly. " How-How do you know my name? " She whispered. He smiled in a way that Jack didn't think possible. The smile was kind, almost genuine. Almost. Jack knew Pitch better. " Because I am like you, Black. I am a legend, despised by many, including this village that you once called home. I, am Kozmotis Pitchiner. But you may call my Pitch. " He smiled again. Loud cries grew from the village. For a moment, the two just sat there, listening to the indiscernible voices carried off by the wind. " These people care not for us. I suppose you have learned that by now. " Pitch's grasp on her shoulder tightened slightly, but Black did not look up from her village. " Why do they dispose us so? I did not mean why I did, and I don't wish for it to happen again but-" Her eyes began tearing up again. " I-I just don't know how to stop..." Pitch rubbed her shoulder gently. " Why do they hate us? Why cant I-I just stop and-"

Pitch took her by both shoulders, turning her to face him. " But why should you stop? You have seen their hatred first hand! This is what you were made for Black, You and I, to rid the world of these insects not worthy of the lives they lead now," He turned her to the village, ignited by a few torch's lining the outskirts of the village. He took her staff between both hands, and held it out in front of her, completely trapping her between it and himself. " You were given the tools you need for the job you were created for. " she gently took her staff, lightly brushing her hands against his. " What WE were created for Black. You and I, by a higher power, to destroy this world, so a new genesis can begin, one without the hatred they so unfairly burden you with. " He grasped her shoulders once more, as they both watched the village ignight slowly by torches, angry cries of warning sounding out, becoming buried in the snowy wind.  
Her tired, sorrowful eyes scanned the village. " We were made for this? " She looked up to the sky, filled with clouds, looking desperately in vain for the moon. Pitch held out his hand, a small flicker of smokey shadows dancing on his palm. Black watched in amazement as a small horse leaped from his palm, prancing a circle around them before disappearing within his hand once more.

But this WASN'T her fault, it was HIS. Jack scowled at the memory of him. Pitch. He growled. Pitch tricked her, he used her. Jack could practically see her curled up on the snowy ledge, crying, covered in bruises from stones and other objects thrown at her. She was a gentle, hurt, soul, not the monstrous being Pitch made her. She caused her sisters death by accident. She took all the blame for herself. It hurt him to think that after all these years, after everything he and the other Guardians went through to stop him, Pitch was still causing misery to someone. He practically marched through the snow, back tword Bodie. He was going to show her she isn't that monster Pitch made her. He looked to the sky, ans thought of the Man on the Moon, and wondered again why he would create Black at all. It killed thousands of people, and was even hurting Black herself now. It just didn't make any sense to him. But he didn't care. He would not let Black live on her own like that. He would not let Pitch torture her after so many centuries. 


	10. Why wont you leave?

Jack marched strait to Bodie, and wandered the streets again. Black never seemed to leave any foot prints, so tracking her to a certain building was difficult. He eventually came to a building with its door swung violently open, skid marks of snow were scratched beneath it, and the dust around it had been disturbed. He stopped for a moment, absorbed in an anger he wasnt sure where to place. He knew he was angry at Pitch, and blamed Blacks plight entierly on him, but he couldnt do anything about it, yet carried it with him. He sighed, calming himself down a bit. He didnt want to barge in on Black and displace his anger on her when she already didnt want him there. After a few more deep breaths, he quietly approched the door, still wide open as it had been thrown open in a haste.

The house was tro stories, dotted with many holes, some as wide as golf balls, a sickening green and brown mixture and a soft moldy texture. Jack swore he could hear the very structure crak and groan in the wind, wondering if it was even safe to enter at all, but the door had been opened recently, and that had to mean Black was inside somewhere. The closer he got the more uneasy his stomach felt. He got that same feeling many eyes were watching him, almost daring him to enter, but he pressed on. Though it looked half dead, Jack couldnt help but feel as if it were alive, just as he or Black was.

He lightly touched the wooden frame, peeking into the building carefully. A thin wooden pole lashed out at his face, forcing his to step backward in order to avoid it. " I told you to leave." Black stood, both hands clutching her staff in a fighting stance, glaring at Jack with cold, crimson eyes, hidden behind sooty black bangs. " And I told you, its o.k., Im fi-" But she slammed the door in his face with a sad shake of her head. He could hear her through the rotten wood full of holes and riddled with termites as the walls around it. " That doesent make you safe, now go away! " Her voice was shaky, as if she had been crying. He stood still, unsure of what to say to make her listen. After a while, he heard the thudding of her staff on the ground, stalking away slowly further into the house. He heard it rise and slowly drown out as Black retired upstairs. Jack touched the door carefully, finding it creak at the slightest touch, but silently. The door handle had long been gone, and dissintegrated, so getting in was no problem.

The inside was suprisingly homely compared to the outside. The furnitue had minimum dust, and the couches and chairs were free of holes and tears, much unlike the shabby remains hed seen through holes in the walls elsewhere in Bodie. Unlit candles in elegant silver holders dotted the shelves alongside many odd trinkets, purple crystals, strange metal devices and artworks, odd straw dolls and philes of multicolored liquids. Clean tea cups and a white tea pot sat on a small round table alongside several old books boundin leather like the one he had seen Black read. The book! He thought, and dashed off in the direction of the pond hidden by the trees. She must have dropped it when we started throwing snowballs, he thought. He reached the edge of the pond and sure enough, a thick, wor, book bound in dark cracked leather sat neglected and forgotten in the snow. Picking it up and examining it for damage, he noticed it didnt have nay kind of title on either side of the cover.

Finding it almost unharmed, with the exeption of a little water stain from the snow, he dashed back into Bodie, and found the half decaying household once more. The door was still open as he left it, and he quietly made his way inside. He found the interior strangly warm, not enough for nay mortal to survive in, mind you, but slightly different from the outside. He tried going up the stairs as quietly as possible, but every step was old, and creake under his weight. He stepped softly enough for the creaks to barely be heard, he didnt want Black to know he was coming and attack him again. When he finnay stepped over the last step, he was suprsed to find the upstairs was only a halway with a single room. He stuck his head inside carefully, and his mouth dropped open. The room was as big as the entire downstairs, and filled compleatly with books. The walls were covered from floor to celling with shelves, and stacks of books cluttered the floor. Candles sat on top of these piles, unlit exept for a single candle. Black sat in the middle of the room, cross legged, head in her hands and staff resting across her lap. The flame of the candle danced in front of her almost in slow motion, casting flickering shadows on the walls.

She sat, deathly still, unaware of his presence. He stared at the book in his hand and searched for soemthing to say that would calm her once hes shown-" What are you dong here, I told you to get out!" She spoke coldly, and the flame flickered wildly. He held up the book. " You forgot this." She turned just enough to see what it was, and Jack could tell by her red puffy eyes that she had been crying. She stared at him for a moment, switching glances between him and the book. She turned back away from him. " Thank you. Now leave it and go." But he steped furthur into the room, causing her to grip her staff tightly. " What book its this? It doesnt hve a title." She didnt answer him, so he stopped and waited.

She didnt turn to face him, but glare in his direction, remaining silent as he stood. Jack thought he could hear faint growling, but surely that was just his imagination. Wasnt it? "Its Grimms Fairy tales." She growled at him. He sat down, giving her a good distance. " Fairy tales?" He asked. " The originals. They are more...dark...I guess, than the ones told now-a-days." She still spoke at him coldy, but at least she was speaking to him. " You can borrow it if you go. Now. " " hmm. No." He said, gently placing the book between them, hoping she would at least reach out for it and break the tense space between them. She just stared at it, deciding wether or not it was worth it. She didnt make any move for it. He leaned back, placing his hands on the floor.

They sat in compleate silence, Jack unwilling to leave, despite Blacks cold eyes and the ever growing tension " Why are you here!" Blacck snapped. " Because yo-" " and if you say its because im alone I am going to wack you with my stick! Whats the real reason your here? Why cant you be like the others and leave me alone!" She clenched her staff close to her. He just smiled nervously. She glared at him waiting for an answer. After a time, Jack finnaly piped up. " I still dont think you are dangerous anymore." He playfully teased. " I dont care what you think its too dang-" " Or what happened was your fault." Jack interupted. Blacks eyes widened behind her sooty black bangs. She froze, mouth slightly open, unsure. She blinked and shook her head, regaining the scowel on her face, only mixed with something else, hidden from Jack behind her bangs.

" Jack, I caused so much-" " Because Pitch made you beileve it was right." Jack decided to flatly come out with it. Blacks face flickered mixed emotions of anger and confusion. " How did,-how-" She thought for a moment. " Tooth showed that too you didnt she! You went through my memories you nosey son of a-" She jumped up and snapped at Jack " How in the hell...why would you...UGH!" She stomped out in disgust. Jack followed after aa few seconds. He could hear Black before he could see her. Pots, cups and other crockery being slammed about in frustration as she began making tea. She mumbled angrily to herself, ignoring Jack standing in the doorway. He wasnt sure what else to say. He had stuck his nose in her past, and it was clear she was upset and felt a bit violated. Finnaly, she slammed a pot down onto a stove ( which was lit by hand because electricity no longer ran through Bodie) and glared at him.

" You still here? I told you to leave!" She growled. She went back to violently moving her pots around, though she wasnt using all them. Jack leaned quietly on the doorframe, giving Black a bit of space. " It WASNT your fault you know. Pitch made you think he was a friend, and then he used you. He tried to do the same to me." Black droped a pot on the hutch, and rested her elbows on the rotting wood, holding her head in her hands. Jack stayed silent, waiting for Black to relpy. " Jack, its still my fault. I DID that, not Pitch." " But he-" " He told me what I wanted to hear, he-he told me that all of the mortal race deserved to die and that they had no hope, that I was here to destroy them and thats what I almost did Jack! Not Pitch, ME! Im the one who started the Plague and spread it throughtout continents, killing mothers and children who have done nothing wrong in their entire lives, Jack!" She held her staff in front of her, angling the wrapped end tword Jack.

" But YOU stopped it-" " A thousand lives too late!" Black would not listen to any argument Jack tried to make. Blakc turned back to the hutch, resting her elbows on the wood, and rubbing her fae in frustration. The Tea kettle whistled as it was brought to a boil, but for a while, no one moved, letting the piercing screach stab at their eardrums. Black finnaly moved it, not taking a hand away from her face, or turning back. She added no tea bag, and just let it sit there. Jack sat in the akward silence, thinking of something, anything to say. " You know, I didnt know what I was made for at first either, The man on the moon is strange but he knows what he is doing. Pitch tried to-" " I wasnt made by the man on the moon Jack..." Black mumbled, still hiding her face in her hands. Jack didnt believe his own ears. " What-" " Pitch Did." Jack was still not believing Black. "How-but-" " Pitch is just as old as the Man on the Moon, Jack, and their rivalry is just as ancient. When one does something, the other answered in his own way, if they can." Jack remembered North telling him of Pitches centueries of silence before he tried again using the nightmare sand.

" When the Man on the Moon created the first guardian, Pitch waned to copy him, and create a servent of his own design, one that both compliments and extends his own limits of powers. It took him years, but he finnaly figured it out." Black still did not turn around. The water still sat on the unused half of the stove, forgotten, exhaling steam that quietly whisped aout in the draft of the dying house. " Fire, Jack, has been used for thousands of years, religiously, to cleanse the world of impurities. Houses of sick were burned to kill the virus, witches were burned at the stake to purge them of the sins they commited so that their sould may be forgiven in the next life, unholy objects were burned as to leave no trace of it," Black sighed. " Pitch created me out of those ashes. No matter what anyone does, darkness will always rise again out of the ashes in which they were first banished from the world. You cant escape it." Black still refused to turn back to face him.

Jack was dumbstruck. Pitch CREATED Black? That both explained much to him, but made little sense as well. " But, in your past, I saw you look at the moon when you first...when you were first born?" Black gave a small dry laugh. " Jack I had just fought my way out of an endless black void, of course I found some solace in the light of it. But even then I felt it, like some sadness that wasnt mine. I didnt know what it was exactly until Pitch mentioned him later on." Silence overcame the pair, Jack taking all of this is, and Black trying in vain to forget it ever happened. Black was one of Pitches creations, and Jack knew in her mind she was no better than the nightmare creatures Pitch formed after stealing the Sandmans sand. Jack quietly stood, and moved next to Black by the hutch. Black shrunk away, not willing to look in the young guardians eyes. Without a word, Jack picked up a small tea infuser, which Black had earlier filled haphazardly with tea leaves. He gently lowered in into the warm water that waited inside the kettle. " Why dont you just leave." She whispered, still refusing to remove her hand from her face.

" Why do you torment me like this! I am a danger to you and now you force me to relive my own creation as one of Pitches monsters. I was born a monster and a monster I am, and I WILL kill you sooner or later, so why dont you just go?" Black sounded as if she were in tears. Jack watched as the water slowly turned brown and gave off an aluring sent that sent a false calm over the two. " Because you're not a monster-" " I killed people! My village, children even my own sister!" She finnaly glard at him, revealing silver tears under her eyes. "And you stopped it because you knew it was wrong! Pitch created you to trick and use you! He is the monster not you!" She stared at him with wide eyes, and confusion. She didnt know wether to listen to him at all, but she longed to believe him, for centuries upon centuires she longed to believe in those words.

Jack poured the tea into two cups he found lying out, and pushed one to Black across the hutch. She stared at it for a moment, before taking it in her hand. Neither drank, just stood in silence. Jack began toying with his, freezing and unfreezing the lukewarm waters, which became ice cold to his touch. " I dont think you are as much of a danger as you were. Iv been around you for a hours, and im fine." " Doesnt mean your compleatly safe. Eventually you will become sick, and will have to leave." She still shrank away from him. " That deal is still on." He said, almost playfully, turning the corner of his lips up into a small smile. " What?" " If I can prove to you, you arent a danger like you say you, and arent a monster anymore, I can stay." He lifted his chin in a funny smug expression, wanting to end the tension and regain that friendly atmosphere they had momentarily enjoyed in the forest together. " I still think you are nuts, but I dont think your going to leave even if I say no are you." Black said unamused. Jack nodded. Black thought for a moment, and Jack could see the pained frustration on her face, and felt a twinge of guilt. " Fine, but the second you start showing any kind of alement I want you gone." She stated coldy.

Jack smiled, for the moment, he had done it. For the moment. Black was still uneasy, and looked like she was in pain. She was frightened beyond her wits, of what she could do, and of Jack himself. The last friend she had...she didnt want a repeate of that, and decided that she would not trust him, no matter what he did, no matter how pretty his words were.

" BLACK, DONT! " Pitch yelled, extending a hand tword her. She brought the staff down hard on a street pole, shaking the flame of the candle. The crystal shattered, and a single shard fell lightly to the ground. Pulses of white light radiated off it, washing over the village.

A single shard, fell.

a single shard.

Pitch lunged at Black, barely touching the ends of her clack, befroe she vanished beneath his grasp. He growled in outrage, scratching the side of the building, leaving four thin white marks withing the old brick. His beathing begame deep and quick in his fury, and he paced for a few moments, back and forth in the spot where she vanished. Everything he ahd worked for, all the plans he made, all the progress, ment absoloutly nothing now. She was off to end the Plague, in which he had relished in. Fear had gripped over half the world, and he would have ruled it all, along side Black, and their future span, which he would teach to spread even more chaos. He had to find her, and soon. If not, the plague would end, and they would seen lose fear of it. Even if she does, ill make sure to make the rest of her days even more miserible than theirs. He thought, glaring at a few corpses on the ground. He could at least be happy with the fact he knew she would never get over this, that she would fear and hate him long after this, wether he ever saw he again or not. He smiled to himself as he thought of his revenge, what he would do to her if he could ever hold her within his grasp again, the sreams she would make, the color of her blood.

He wondered if she would even bleed, looking half dead, or if gravity alone would draw it out of her body. He laughed darkly. And of course one of his plans havent changed. Pitch intended for Their children to create much more chaos on the world, covering it compleatly with darkness, a mixture of both Black's and Pitches powers. That plan has not changed, whether Black wanted it to or not. He was stronger than her, he need only find her again. As he paced, dreaming of revenge, and thinking on what to do, where Black could have gone, something glittering in the dirt caught his eyes. He bent over, and picked something up in his boney fingers. He smiled as he turned it over in his palm. Maybe he didnt need Black for the sickness as much as he thought he did. 


	11. Smile while you can

Black walked through the lightened snowy streets, leaving no tracks behind her. She crossed her arms tightly, clutching her staff in one hand, slightly bent over, as if exreamly cold. Jack walked behind her, hands behind his head, also clutching a staff, leaving large prints in the snow. He didnt know exactly where Black was taking him, but the longer they walked the more he wished she would hurry up. It had been only a day scince she agreed (or rather was forced) to let him stay in Bodie with her, and that uneasy feeling that he was being watched had not lifted. Every coner, every doorway and window felt like it was hiding something, something that was watching their every move. Jack unconciously began walking closer and closer to Black, becoming more uncomfortable in the open streets with each step.

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw shadows dart behind barrels, or inside buildings through windows. As he was watching the side of a building for these movement, he bumped into something in front of him. He shook his head, and faced forward and Saw Blacks confused face staring back at him. He had walked so close to Black he actually bumped into her! /he rubbed the back of his neck as he felt the heat rise in his cheeks. He smiled and laughed, embarrased. She said nothing, and continued walking. Im an idiot! He thought. " Does this place scare you?" Black asked. She wasnt taunting him. He quickened his pace to walk ot her side. " Um its..odd, here." He said. She looked strait ahead as she walked. " There are others here you know, that have passed on. They stil linger here." She spoke lightly, as if the information was just common knowlage. Jack didnt know what to say. There were others that passed on here? Did she mean ghosts? " Others?" He asked. She still faced forward staring off into the place she was going, and Jack wondered if it was to ignor the fleeting shadows around them.

" Do you know why Bodie was created? Or why everyone left?" She asked. Jack stayed silent, and Black continued. " During the time of the gold rush, a few prospectors found gold here, and many people moved here to mine it. Because it was centered around finding gold, greedy people came, and attracted bandits and criminals of all kind. Crime overtook the town until it wasnt safe to leave your house with a gun or two. Countless murders were reported, and coutless more were covered up, robberys ransacked all newcomers, houses were broken into, burned, rebuilt just to have it all happen again." Jack looked aroun at the builings again, feeling even more uneasy, and walking a little closer to Black, being very careful not to bump into her again. " Not a very nice place was it?" She shook her head lightly. " After a time, all the gold was mined out, and with out a reason to stay, and fear of all the crime, people cleared out, and the town was abandon. Well, sort of." " Sort of?" Black nodded her head once. " Some of the people who died here in all that mess still called this place home. They protect their home Jack." She sounded very serious, adding to Jacks uneasy feelings. " Back when Bodie was a historic attraction, people would come from all corners of the US to try and get a glimpse of Bodies famous ghosts. People began taking little things they found around the town, little rusted nails, horse shoes, boots, even rocks. Eventually, the workers here began recieving letters and small boxes with the trinkets inside, and apologies to the spirits.

Jack followed another little flicker by a doorframe, his heart beating faster with anxiety. " They sent it back? " He asked, trying to cover up his feelings. " The legend goes that the old people of Bodie still call this place home, and they dont appreciate people taking things off of THEIR land. Anyone who steals something is plagued with horrible luck until the item is returned to its proper place in Bodie." she finnaly looked him in the eye, a warning expression on her face. " They protect their home, Jack." she said. A small shiver went down Jacks spine. He had been seeing odd things ever scince he first set foot in Bodie, and now he was hearing from Black that they were ghosts?! Jack wanted nothing more than to leave and never look back, but he didnt travel a hundred miles tracking Black to leave her now. They walk a little furthur in Bodie, and Jack kept seeing those little fleeting disembodied movements all around him. Jack watched Black walk elegently, stareing strait ahead, ignoring the shadows around her.

Jack wondered if she herself was scared of this place, because she had no where else to go and ignored them because they frightened her. Jack thought for a moments, and smiled. "So Bodie really is a Ghost Town isnt it?" It was corney, and he knew it, but still, Black truend and gave a smile. Her face was sickly pale, and her lips were a blueish purple, dead looking, but somehow that smile warmed Jack, even her crison eyes behind her sooty black bangs. He couldnt help but smile himself, but once he did, black frowned and continued to stare in front of her as they continued down the path. The warm feeling vanished, and Jack suddenly felt uneasy again with the dying buildings around him. He wondered why Black turned back around, but a tiney Black mass darted behind a barrel. It was much different from the ones he had been seeing, causing him to ghasp. Hearng this, Black stopped and turned just enough to see Jack out of ofe eye, still keeping her head low.

" What was- Two more black objects dashed across the path in front of them. " What are those!" He asked, raising his staff incase he needed to fight. Black silently crept in front of him, so quietly he hadnt noticed until she gently touched his staff, pushing it downward, breaking his stance. " Look." She said quietly. Jack stared long and hard into the space around him, and was able to make out small figures. " What are those?" He asked again, but Black ignored him. She took a few steps away from him, and knelt on the ground in the snow. She made a few 'tsk' noises, and extended an arm slowly outwards. A single black shadowy figure creeped slowly and quiety out to her, stopping a foot in front of her outstretched arm. The whisps around it settled, and Jack reconized it as a small, black rat, no bigger than his fist.

He stayed silent, watching the other figures as they watched him. The rat sniffed at Blacks hand, its white, compleatly circle eye blinked once, and it scampered off back into the shadows, dissapearing with the others. " What were those?" Jack asked a third time. " Do you know what really got the plague going? All those years ago?" Jack thought, and after a time of silence, Black continued. " Rats. Rats became infected by flea bites, and they would bite humans, or crawl around in their food, spreading the virus in any household it could get into, and back then that was incredibly easy." Jack searched the shadows for any more little outlines. " So thye are like your...servents or something?" He remembered Baby Tooth, the little humming bird-like fairy that helped Tooth with her job. "sort of, they were like my familiars." " Were?" Black stared at the ground, still knealing in the snow. " When I ended the plague, they stoped listening to me, they wont get any closer than that, and thats when they actualy show themselves to me.

Without another word, she stood and continued on the path. Jack hurried to follow her. So Black did have some form of company with her, but they dont seem to like her very thought. He remembered when he used the orb North gave him to see her, and that shadowy creature he saw, was she begging for it to come closer? To have something to share a connecction with? Even if it was just a rat? They came to the woods, and walked a bit of a distance in, until fnnaly Black stopped at a group of dead trees. " Im almost out of wood, and if you want anything warm to eat, we'll need to get more." Jack was about to ask how exactly they were supposed to do that empty handed, but Black held her staf outward, flattening it out to match the horizon. Her hand began to glow a soft white, and glowing vines twisted down the staff to either end. The wrappings were covered, and the entire end of the staff was engulfed in white, and a curved, cresent blade emerged from it. Jack stood, mouth open in shock. Black looked at him, then at her staff, smiling to herself. " What?" She laughed. " Thats-thats a scyth?" he asked, staring at the blade. she nodded. " If this thing was only good for spreading sickness I would have destroyed it years ago..." Her smile faded into a sad frown, and she turned back to the short, thin, dead trees, and began to chop through the bark.

Pitch breathed heavily, bent over with exaustion, grasping onto the black stone walls around him for support. He stumbled, gasping for breath, through his own home. He came to a large, gray stone table, seated with two chairs, though only one has been compleatly abandon, covered in cobwebs and dust. He collaped in the other, gripping the table, trying to catch his breath, and supress the gripping preassure on his heart. He had been chased for months by his own fears, his own fears of those wretched guardians. He thought. He was so close, SO CLOSE. He had the guardians up against the wall, litterally, almost evey kid believed in him again, FEARED him again, he was so close to holding the world in his boney fingers once more, but now it was over. All his work rendered to nothing but a few bad memories, an the guardians gained a new member becoming cronger than ever. Worse yet, he was being persued by his own creations.

He growled between gaspes, and clenched his fist into a tight ball, letting his hatred for those guardians overcome him. It took him years to figure out how to turn Sand Mans sand against him, and now those years have gone to waste and treatened himself now. He would have to come up with a new plan alltogther, that is, after he can permenetly escape his own fears. He was able to get away for now, but he knew they would be back. They always came back. In the midst of his hatred and self pity, he felt something he had not flet in years. A flicker of disembodies happyness that was not his own, thousands of miles away. His eyes snapped open, and he froze, not even breathing. He felt it again, a single whisp of happyness long forgotten by him and its true owner.

Can it be? He thought. He stood and dashed down a dark rocky hallway, coming into a single corridor that was illuminated by a light whose sorce was unkown. The room was domelike, walled up by gray, uneaven cobblestones. In the center of the room sat a pedestal, made of a smoothed gray rock. Top of the pedestal held a small, glass cover, encasing a tiney fragment of white crystal. Pitch gripped the sides of the stone, leaning in, almost pressing his nose to the glass, watching the small shard. He held his breath and watched, waiting. He felt the small flicker again, and the crystal glowed a faint white. he tore off the glass casing, and tossed it off to the side, not caring when it shattered beyond repair. He picked the crystal up in his hand, clutching it tightly in his fist, and knitting his eys shut. He waited, and soon he felt the fliker again, and small white beams of light shone from between his fingers. Only this time, he concentrated on the feeling, snatching it from withing himself. At once, a scene appeared before his tightly shut eyes.

He saw a snowy forest, filled with the laughter of two young adults, tossing balls of snow at one another. One was a tall man, in a simple blue sweater, clutching a staff in one hand, with messy snow white hair. His companion seemed a compleate opposite from him. She was short, dressed in a long black cloak, with long sooty black hair, also clutching a staff. Pitch smiled darkly to himself. THATS where you ran off to. He thought. Oh and look, your made a friend... He scowled and growled at the vision of Jack, clutching the crystal so tightly the edges began to cut into his pale skin." A bit too dangerous of a move for you, isnt it?" Soon he watched as the got too close to the edge, and chuckled as the ground beneath them gave way, and they were sent hurteling down the side of a mountian. He was dissapointed though, as they both got out unharmed, and began to laugh with each other. With every chuckly, every giggle the two made, Pitch grew more sick to his stomach. He was no longer able to take it. he held the shard of the crystal between two fingers, and strings of shadowy lace wrapped around them.

He remembered The time he spent with Black, every thing they had ever done together, and everything he was able to make her do, like a puppet on strings. He channeled as many memories of her as he could into the crystal, and the small flicker of far away happiness he felt died, and surounded itself with guilt, and sorrow, and betrayal, until it was no longer able to take it, and caved in, broken.

Suddenly, Black stood, and hung her head. " I have to go." She whispered, and quickly glided away, still leaving no footprints in the snow. " Hey but-" " I told you, you are'nt safe around me!" She glared behind her, and continued.

Pitch let the flicker go again, and placed the crystal back on the pedastal. He smiled to himself, and began chuckling menecingly. He had long forgotten about the crystal, after giving up on trying to control it, but he never forgotten her. That little harlot that first brought him down from power, if she hadnt gone all noble the plague would still be alive and well today, speading and getting stronger, gripping the world with fear. And she herself would be at his side, along with their children, wreaking havoc on every living soul they could find, but now...He snarled, brining himself back down into that pathetic state he was now in in because of the Guardians. But now he could find her. Now he can make her pay, after all these years. He let out such a mechanical laughter it ran through the dome and down the hallways. He recalled the time he attacked her, right after she had destroyed the crystal, ending the plague. He remembered the pathetic, scared whimpers she let out, the feel of he body agaist is, the curve of her figure under his touch, the little flinches she made under his movements, the taste of her flesh and blood on his toung, h was going to make her pay. He was going to start that family he had planned for them, and use them to end the world as we all knew it. Whether she wanted to or not. He smiled, a new found excitement curged through his body, ignighting every nerve in his body. He remembered her smile, playing with one of the guardians in the snow. it hadnt changed, after all these years, it hadnt changed.  
He smiled, revealing his teeth and pointed canines. " Smile while you can, Black," He thought.

Smile while you can. 


	12. The Day at the Ice Pond

Jack stared in awe at Blacks scyth, watching her carve away at a tree. The scyths curved blade was not ment for this kind of work so it too a while, but eventually the tree fell, causing the ground to give a light tremor. Jack watched in silence as she propped the tree up on a stump, and began making thick disks of the trunk, with a single downward slice of her blade. Jacks head rann with more and more questions, but he didnt want to ask any, for fear of upsetting Black again. Once she had a sufficent amount of disks, Black began spliting them in half, making many semi-circle hunks of lumber. They were odd compared to the normal rectangular logs most people used, but he guess having the scyth insted of a saw created issues with that. He helped now and again with lifting, and moving the wood when she needed him to, but without a blade of his own he mostly sat and watched. When she was finished, she had enough for each of them to have both arms full, and have to make a second trip.

As they trudged back, Jack, out of breath from the heavy lifting, tried to lighten the mood and dispell the ever present akward tension between them. " Do you always carry bach this much on your own?" Black was silent for a moment, then answered with a simple, " Yes. " He was silent for a while, unsure if Black wanted to speak at all. As they re-entered Bodie, and he once again watched fleeting shadows amoung the dead and dying buildings of the old forgotten town, he finnaly asked, in much desperation to break the akward atmosphere " so, how long have you had that scyth? I dont remember seeing it in your past-" He mentally kicked himself for bringing up the fact he snooped around in her past again.

He was afraid she would get angry and shut off again, but to his suprise, she answered calmly. " Iv always had it. Scince the day I first held it." " Oh." He said. The weight of the wood straining his arms brought up another question. " How long did it take you to do this on your own?" He saw her shrug. " About a full day I guess. Time really doesnt mean much to me." He understood her. when your alone, nothing really matters to you. Not even time. Exept, maybe, the years of solitude weighing down in your heart, but you try your best to ignor that when you cant change it.

Once they stacked the first load of wood by the rusted stove, they trudged back into the woods to fetch the rest. Once again, walking through the streets of Bodie Jack couldnt help but keep as clost to Black as possible, which she must have noticed. " You know, thye wont hurt you unless you take something from their land." She said. He chuckled embarrased. " I dont know how you managed to get over them and LIVE here like this." He said, hoping to start a conversation. " They arent so bad. Actually, sometimes I feel like they are watching over me. I live here same as them." Jack remembered the story she told him. They protect their home. Jack began to think that Black thought of these shadows as her neighbors, he family even, all living together away from the world, no one and nothing but each other. Jack watched a fw shadows retreat behind an old crate, and suddenly he didnt feel so uneasy about them. Maybe black found solace in their presence, even though they cant really communicate like he himself found a bit of fun in watching children pay in his snow, when they could not see him.

They arrived back inside the woods, an loaded up with the rst of the lumber. Already exausted from the first load, Jack huffed and heaved with the new weight. as they began walking back, jack asked " So how did you find this place anyway? " " Found it just wandering about. I learned about its past in a book." Jack remembered Blacks enormous library in her upstairs. " Yeha, thats a big collection you have, where did you even get those?" He asked, still trying to keep a conversation going. "...Found them after people threw them out. Took a very long time to get all of those though." " Have you read all of them?" He saw her nod. " Many times over." Jack huffed again, and shifted the lumber around. With all the books he saw, he could hardly believe someone could have read all of them once, let alone multiple times. Then again its not like Black was doing anything else.

" Whats your favorite?" " Harry Potter." she answered almost instantly. " whats that about?" Black went on and on about wizarding duels, and fantastic creatures and spells, describing many of the places in the book with great deatil. She spoke with energy, and excitement, and it amazed Jack that she was still so enthusiastic about it after she told him she had read all seven books ten times. She talked about it for a long time, and Jack listened happily, asking a few questions ocasionally. He had finnaly found something to get Black to open up! Once they reached Blacks old house, and dropped the lumber off, they plopped down on the red velvet armchairs, exausted. Black was just finishing telling Jack about the sith, of the seven books, when she stopped suddenly. She placed a hand over her heart, and grew a pained expression on her face. " Whats wrong? " Jack asked. She shook her head. " Nothing I guess." He nodded, but didnt quite believe her. " So how does it end?" He asked. She stayed silent for a moment, and said " You will have to read them for yourself." He thought she was just being funny, and was trying to get him to read the book, but when she stood to go upstairs, she looked dreadful. She hung her had, and still held her heart, and the rim of her eyes were red and slightly puffy, as if she was about to cry.

When she came back carrying the first book, she didnt look any better. Jack asked what was wrong, but she still said " Nothing" and handed him the book. Before Jack could ask again, she left to start tea, and fix a bit of bread ( where she got the ingridients he didnt know). He began to read, and thinkk of a way to cheer her up, or at least figure out what was wrong, then he remembered something she told him about the books. She kept going on about a hippogrif, it seemed to be one of her favorites that she told him about, and he hathed an Idea. As Black came out of the kitchen, carring two mugs of tea, and a small loaf of bread, Jack carefully took both from her, set them gently down on the table, and took Black by her hand. Before she could ask what he was doing, he dashed off as fast as he could out the door, and into the woods again, back in the direction of the frozon, where he first spoke to her.

Jack ran so fast Blacck could barely think. She was confused on whether or not she should break away and run, or just let him drag her off. When they found the pond, Jack let go, and she almost fell forward they were going so fast. Jack stood on the very end of the frozen pond, sliding slightly on his bare feet. Blacks hands flailed as she regained her balance, and she clutched her staff unsure. " Jack what in the-" " Just watch." He said softly. She still stood unsure, and he lightly tapped the frozon ice with the curved end of his staff. Almost instantly, white laces of ice, curved and itertwined with each other, slowly moving outward, and forming a shape. Black watche with wide eyes as it took on the silouetted form of a creature that seemd half bird and half horse. Its beautiful elegant wings outstretched, as if ready to take off in flight, and its claw raised in a fierce stance. Black laughed with amazement at Jacks work. He smiled and gestured to it. " Beaky, y'know? that thing you were tellling me about? from those books?"

She laughed again. " Buckbeak!" she corrected him playfully. they both laughed again. Jack saw Blacks smile again, and that same warm feeling washed over him. He tapped the ice again, and a few more creature emerged in white strands of ice over the pond. Orgers fought wizards, drgons took flight, a pheonix spread its wings wide, and with each design, Blacks smile grew more peaceful, and her eyes sparkled with joy and wonder. After a time, the pond was covered with beautiful creatures that Black had described to Jack. Though she had decided on not trusting him, she could not help the overwhelming feelings of happiness and peace that came over her. She finnaly had someone to talk to, that listened to her. she was able to forget her fears of hurting Jack, and lose herself in his beautiful ice creations. she had never seen anything so wonderous, or beutiful in all her life, and for someone as old as her, that was saying something.

When there was no room left for anymore designs, JAck sat back in the snow, and admired his wor, but he stole glances at Blakcs smile now and again. He smiled as he watched her eyes, never losing their amazment, folowing every curve and every line f ice he created. " Alright, you've seen what I can do." she watched him curiously. " Let see what you can do." He challenged friendly. " Jack, I-I cant do much anymore," She gestured to the white wrappings on the edge of her staff. He felt a bit guilty again, he seemed to have a knack of bringing up the worst inn Blacks past, now he reminded her that she cant do as much as she could, and after all the iced artwork he had done. He was brought out of his thoughts when Black began coughing.

Pitch clutched the crystal in his palm, and watched, disgusted as Jack created all sorts of designs on the forzon lake for Black. He grew sick to his stomach with every line Jack drew out, and his hatred for him grew with every hayy little laugh Black made. Black was HIS. No one else was allowed to be with her. As his hatred grew, he suddenly felt his everygy lashout within the crystal, and Black began to cough wildly. He stopped, and tried it again, and Black fell over, clutching her chest in one had and covering her mouth in the other. He had done it! He smiled and laughed darkly. After all these years he had done it, he coud reach Black directly through her lost fragment of crystal, and maybe he could do more.  
_

Black bent over in pain, clutching her chest and gaggin on nothing. " Black!" Jack lunged for her, and fell to his knees at her side. " Are you alright? " She nodded, but by the coughing it was obvious she wasnt. After a time, the coughing ceased, and Jack held her in his arms, though with many protests from Black. They stood and Jack helped Black back though the woods, tword Bodie.

Pitch watched, and waited, a devilish smile playing on his lips. He watched as Jack held Black in her arms, and began stumbling with her back through her snow. " How sweet." He mused. He pinched the shard of crystal between his fingers, adn concentrated on it. He could see Black fall into the snow, coughing. He could see little scarlet dots between her fingers as she held her mouth in one hand, ans tried to wave Jack away with the other. He let his grip on the shard losen, and Blacks condition lightened up.  
_

Black fell into the snow, conulsing in another fit that brought blood from her mouth. she wanted Jack as far away from her as possible. She didnt know what was going on or why, but she didnt want Jack anywhere near her. JAck ignored her protest, and helped her up again, pressing her forward back to the town. He wanted to get her inside so she would be out of the snow, and have a place to lie down. He wasnt sure what was going on, she was fine a minuet ago, but now it looked like she was dying. Sh was the Black Plague, did this happen often? Was it his fault? Did she supress her powers so much that it infected herself? They didnt take two steps before she fell back to her knees, and coughed up more blood.  
_

Pitch laughed as Black struggled to stand, and Jacks pathetic attempts to help her. He pinched the crystal more, and the more Black coughed and struggled the stronger he felt. Every drop of blood that fell from her body excited him, made him want more, wanted her to suffer. He didnt stop until he heard distand trampeling of hooves on stone. " NO! " He cried, the nightmares had found him! He reluctantly placed the crystal back on the pedestal, not willing to risk loosing it in his escape. He cured himself for shattering its caseing, and darted from the room, wanting to get as far away as possible from the thundering gallops.  
_

Black gave one more lurch, one more cough, and ceased all. A single stream of blood leaked from the side of her mouth into the snow. The scarlet stood out on the snow and her pale skin. Jack held her shoulders, not wanting her to fall into the snow, and waited as she cought her breath, gently rubbing her back in circles. After a while, he knew that she would not be able to move very far on her own, and picked her up bridal style, carrying her back into Bodie.  
_

Pitch practically flew down the stoney corridors, going as fast as he could back above ground into the frozen earth. He was running, for now, but he would be back, and next time he wouldnt go so easy on Black, he thought. 


	13. The Guardians Calling

Jack carried Black throught the snow, back into her rotting houe, thankful it still was somehow warmer inside. He felt Black shake lightly in his arms, and knew she was even more scared then he was. Neither of them knew what was going on, and Black was terrified that it could spread to Jack if he stayed. Sheconstantly nagged at him to just leave her, but he refused to listen. Jack layed her down on her red velvet couch, and threw a blanket over her. The blanket was actually an old thick table cloth, full of holes and tears, unweaving at the edges, but it was all Black had. She had given him the same blanket to Jack to use when he slept (on the couch she was now lying on).

Black breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath again, whiping what little drops of blood that still dripped from the corner of her mouth. She tried to hide them from Jack, but he saw them anyway. He made her some tea, but whenever she took a sip, she only tasted blood, and refused to drink anymore. Jack had no idea what to do, or what was even wrong. Sure Black had seemed depressed earlier, but she didnt seem sick. Where had that attack come from? " Jack, you have to go!" Black insisted again. " Im not leaving you like this Black!" and he refused Blacks urges again and again. Black slowly regained her strength, and sat up, with shakying arms. " Jack, I dont know what that was and I dont know if it will spread to you now GO!" Black snapped. Jack ignored her, and began picking up the discarded tea cups, still full of cold tea.

Black watched as he took them into the kitchen, and began cleaning them out. She didnt understand him at all, and it scared her. She told hi of all the horrible things she had done, the same that would befall him if he stayed arounnd her, he evevn saw for himself the things Black could, and have done to people, yet he stayed. He ignored everything about Black that made her a monster, and stayed. Like a friend...She thought. She felt tears prick to her eyes. He was the first person she spoke to ( that could see and talk back to her) in over ten centuries, the only person that looked past all the evil she had done, and just saw her. She could make him suffer for the rest of eternity, without meaning to and without a way to ever save him, but he didnt care. He didnt leave. He wasnt afraid. She stared down at the rotted wooden floors, figting back the tears in her eyes. " Fool." She whispered.

Why did he do it? Why on earth does he stay! she thought angrily. He knew the risks, now she was sick and he still wont leave her. She thought of their snowball fight in the woods, that slide down the cliff, they way he tried as hard as he could to mak eher laugh, those beautiful designs he did on the pond, all for her. But why? Why does he do that when it endagers hiself so much? A soft light from the window lifted her out of her thoughts. She gazed out the window at the sky now darkened with night, and gasped. A streak of light danced alongside the stars, shining a thousand different colors, hundeds of hues mixing together beautifully, riveling the moon itself wiht its brightness. She had seen this thing before, though its been a long time, she still remembered this calling. " The Guardians," she whispered

" Jack!" she strained to yell. " Im not-" " Jack look!" Black poointed a clawed finger outside. JAck curiously went to the window and saw the sky. Jacks stomacch tied itself in knots. He knew he had to go, he was a Guardian now after all, but he didnt want to leave Black now, especially after that fit she had. "Go." she ordered him. " But-" " GO!" He nodded, and relectantly picked up his staff, and glided away. IT would take a long time to reach North, and every mile brought mroe anxiety. What could be going on? Did it have something to do with Blacks fit? He stared by at Bodie, though he could no longer see it. He worried about her.

Black watched him go. As he vanished from sight, she was glad that he ws gone, she didnt have to worrie about infecting him anymore, but, somewhere, she didnt want him to leave either. She thought he was crazy, sure, but he was the only person in over 600 years who have ever shown her a kind hand. He talked to her as a friend, and refused to leave her alone again though it ment risking his own safety. He made her have fun, and talked with her after she had spent so many years in silence, alone. Though she didnt want to admit it, and it scared her, actually liked Jack. she was torn between wishing him back soon and hopping he never returns to Bodie again. She thought of leaving a few times, but in the state she was in, that would prove a difficulty. She let the exaustion of the day engulf her, and drifted off to sleep, still thinking on Jack.

Pitch ran through the woods, going as fast as he could, ignoring the burning ache in his legs. He panted, darthing behind a large boulder. He could no longer hear any hoof beats, but he couldnt be too carefull. His heart beat a thousand times a second, and he struggled to catch his breath. He had been circling the entrance to his fortess for a long time now, but any attemp to get near it, the nightmares would chase him off again. He had to get back to that crystal, and work on controling Blacks powers from within her. He smiled as he remembered the blood flwoing from her mouth. And he could have a little extra fun while he was at it. He recoverd a while, stil alert for any sounds of hooves. When he heard none, he darted off, back tword the broken bunk that marked the enterence to his foretess. As he ran, he heard no gallops, but a light, shining from above caught his attention. At first he thought it was the Man on the Moon, and sent a scowl tword the sky, but he saw not the moon, but an erray of colors, daashing across the sky.

He growled, and clunched his fist into a ball. Hatred gripped his heart as he ground his teath together. " The Guardians!" He spat. They've seen him, damn those globes! He thought. He would have to act fast before they figured it out. He'd seen Jack with Black, he could easily tell them of her fit, and it would only be a matter of time before she told them of the missing shard off of her gem. If they got that, it would be over for him again." But not this time." he saw Jacks face again, smieling with HIS Black, and remembered him valiently leading the Guardians against him so many months ago, and his hatred reached a new level. " Not this time." He growled.

He reached the bed at last and dived own the cavern, not stopping until he was safely inside the dome that held the crystal fragment, but something was wrong. 


	14. A Dark Reunion

Pitch stood, awestruck at the shard of crystal. It was left just where he left it, but the dull, lustless core, now glew white. It gleamed bright, and shone so brightly it illuminated the entire dome. The divine white, turned to a light blue, then a bright periwinkle, changing into colors so soft, and bright it almost hurt for Pitch to watch it. Something had gone wrong, very wrong. Pitch felt the last time this happened, but scince he had left, he hadnt felt anything of it. He never felt that little flicker of Black that connected them both, yet crystle was still going wild. Carefully, he picked up the shard, and held it gently in his fist, unsure of what it could do now. He saw Black sitting, wrapped up in an old tattered blanket, staring out the window. Small tears pricked at her eyes. He saw her watching the bright, dancing light and colors in the sky, and the very longing, confused feelings in her eyes.

Jack was gone. He noticed. It made sense to him, and he hated it. Jack was the first person in 600 years to befriend him ( other than himself, even if it ended badly), now he was gone, and she missed him. Missed Jack. The crystal reacted to Blacks emotions, and for the first time in a long time, she was happy. She was happy, because of him. And thats what waoke the crystal in the first place. Thats what was making glow growled to himself. Black was his, whether she wanted to be or not, and he was not going to let anyone else have her. Especially not that little Guardian. Pitch thought to himself. " You 've had enough peace for now." And he gripped the shard tightly in his hand. He watched as Black gripped the srm of the couch desperatly, clutching her chest in pain, fighting off violent coughs. Pitch laughed and held the shard tighter, and Black lost it.

Black began coughing viciously, struggling to breath. Blood dotted the floor with each cough, and the pain that rose from within herself was almost unbearable. Her nails dug into the velvet, creating tiney holes with hr nails. After a few minuts of watching Black suffer, he decided to try and waken the sickness within her, and spread it once more. He shut his eyes with deep concentration, and imbeded his own energy into the shard, intertwining it with himself.

Black stared out the window, at the flashing lights in the sky, thinking about Jack again. she had been sleeping, and had no idea how much time had passed, but she knew he had been gone for a long time. She knew it would still be a long time before he came back. IF he came back. she sighed. She was still tron between wanting him back and wishing he would never come back. She missed him, though she hated that fact, and it scared her, she missed him. But she never wanted to hurt him, and thats why he cant come back. She sighed again, wondering now that she as able to, she should leave. But he found her once, thousands of miles apart he found her, though she had no idea how. If he could do that, what if he could do it- Her thinking was cut, and she felt another fit, slithering its way through her body, exausting every part of her body. She gripped the arm of the sofa, and tried to fight it, but it came anyway, much worse than it had. She tasted blood and it spewed from her mouth, and clutched her chest as a new wave of pain erupted.

She could barely breath as the coughing consumed her. Her eyes watered and her lungs and throut burned. It gre worse as the minuets passed by, and suddenyl she felt something she hadnt in years. Something that was moving within her, of its own acord, independent of all the pain and confusion she felt. It swirled within her own being, and made her skin crawl as she felt it overtake her body. She knew this feeling, though she didnt believe it. She didnt want to, couldnt bring herself to it. Pitch! she choked out. He felt him begin to pulse his power from within herself, trying to intertwine it with hers. She felt his presence, his very being, wrap around her, looping, and knotting itself so that it felt as if he would never brak free. He could feel a hatred, that was not hers, she felt his emotion, is power inside of her.

Terror overcame her, but she would not let him. She shut her eyes, concentrating, struggling against his power, against the coughing fits, against the pain she felt. She stumped him, and began pushing him back, fighting to break herself free. They began a tug of war that lasted hours. Blacks forehead was drenched in sweat, as she held her head in hr hands, stuggling to keep him away. She didnt know how, but Pitch had found a way inside her power, and she would not let him start the plague again. She would not hurt anyone any more, and she would not let him hurt anymore either. Even if ti killed her. the pai inside her turned numb, and she was exausted, but finnaly, she felt Pitch stop, and the feeling of his power left her.. she pantd out of breath, and collapsed.

Pitch slammed his fist down on the Pedestal, still clutching the shard. He rested his forehead against the cooll stone, panting. His fists were clenched into balls as he panted, trying to shake off his tiredness. He growled. She was able to fend him off! He knew he wasnt quite as powerful as he once was, but he had no idea how mch stronger SHE had gotten. He could never use her powers from this shard alone, he would need the entire gem. He grinned menecingly. But that wasnt a problem anymore. He could find her, now that he could use the gem. He could feel her, and knew she was weak. The guardians would never know until it was too late, even if Jack told them. she was close, he knew it, by the time they reached that little rotting house, they would be long gone. She was weak, and he knew he could take her. He may have to outrun the Nighmares, but once he got his hands on Blacks staff he could wisk himslef away in a second. He gripped the shard tightly, and dashed back down the rocky hallway, and out the opening.

He stood as still as death, listening for any indication the Nightmares were around. Nothing. The winds howled, and a few birds sang off in the distance, but no sound of hooves could be heard. He clutched the shard tightly, and instantly felt Blacks presence far off, but close enough to be able to reach hr in just a few short hours. He smiled grimly, and darted off.

Black collased in exaustion, staining to breath, or hold er head up, or even see strait. She had fallen to the floor, dizzy, and scramble her way back on the couch. She layed on her back, panting shakily, trying to find the energy to stand, or sit up, something, anything. She knew she had to get up, and get to her staff, propped up on the corner. She was in no condition to fight, but she could at least shadow herself somewhere else. She knew black could easily get to her if he wanted now, she could feel him just a few hours away, and she knew he could feel her too. Scince he had created her, that had had that connection, and as they grew 'close', that bond strengthened so one could tel the others emotions, or if they wer in trouble, or get to them if need be. She scratched the back of the couch, trying to grip something to help pull her up, but the fight had worn her out compleatly, and she could barely wrap her fingers around anything.

Suddenly, she felt it again, that little flicker of hate that was not her own. " Pitch," she whispered with shaky breath. She braced herself to fend him off again, but he simply rubbed against her. She knew he was coming for hr now, and she had to get to her staff. She only had a few hours to get ready, and she could barley get off the couch. she knew then that it was prolalby it for her. Jack was farr off with the guardians, whi problably wouldnt want to come to her aid anyway, no matter what Jack told them. she was on her own, and severly weakened. She breathed heavily, and heaved herself up with great difficulty on shaky legs. She wobbled and swayed, but did not fall. Panting, she locked eyes on her staff. It was problably it for her, she knew that. But she wasnt going down without a fight.  
_

Jack arrived at Norths place, in the midst of a queral with the other Guarians. He could hear them from the other side of the workshop before he could see them.

" But- that just cant be? How culd he be back! we just fought him off, he should still be weak, not to mention those-those THINGS chasing after him!"

" I telling you, I know vat I sav!" He heard north arguing with Tooth.

" No way mate, he just...CANT!" Bunnymund joined the argument.

Walking through the workshop, he could see the yetis already had a good head start on the new year, feverishly making toys for next Christmas. Christmas! Jack thought. He still had the glass orb north had given him last holiday, but he cracked it rying to see Black, the very person he and Tooth told him to stay away from. How was he going to explain that? He shook it off, hoping that whatever North summoned them there for would distract him from asking about it. When he finnaly came to the group, the three didnt seem to notice, far too wrapped up in their argument. Sand man was the only one to see him, and gae a little wave. " So whats wrong?" Jack asked him. The little golden man turned to the arguing legends, fiddling his hands nervously. He turned to Jack, and a horse appeared above his head, made of shimmering golden sand. " Horse?" JAck thought. He still had trouble communicating with Sandy.

" Horse?...Pitch?!" Jack ghasped. at the sound of Pithces name, the other three legends turned around. " Jack! so happy to see you!" Tooth fluttered around in a circle over him, and opene her mouth to say something else, but ended up going off ad telling her little faires more adresses. " Jack, glad your hee, North is having some delusion about-" " I KNOW VAT I SAW!" North snapped. Before they could start arguing again, Jack asked what exactly was wrong. " Oh, the old geezer over hear thinks hes seen Pitch again." Bunnymund said flatly. North went on and on about seeing Pitches shadow over his globe again, and feeling sick to his stomach, before coughing up a storm. When Jack heard this, a knot formed in his stomach, thats what happened to Black! Did Black do this? Was it her shadow he'd seen? Or... " I know vat I saw! And I know vat I felt!

Bunnymund still shook his head. " Pitch is long gone, you sw him! he wont be back for a while, and even if he wasnt, he cant just make you feel sick like that!Not his style, not in his powers." Bunnymund crossed his arms. " Maybe your just working yourself too hardlately, have you stopped making toys scince you got home chirstmas?" Tooth added between adresses. " IM FINE! " he snapped. North wasnt just some old man, making stuff up or seeing things, Jack knew him. If he says hes seen Pitch, he's seen Pitch. But Jack also wondered if it want Black he was seeing, but why? He had been with her the whole day and she hadnt done anything harmful. As much trouble he new he was getting himself into, he new sooner or later he would have to some clean. " Its not North." Jack stated. " Oh rally? What makes you say that?" Bunnymund challanged. Jacks eyes shifted to one side of the room to the other nervously. He wouldnt look any of them in the eyes.

They noticed this. " Jack, whats wrong? whad;ya see?" " Jack? Whats Happened?" Even Toth looked up from her fairies, and Sandy listened intently, stilll fiddling with his hands. Jack sighed, defeated, and told them how he tracked Black down, and had, sort of, been living with her, in a ghost town. Intstantly, they went into a frenzy. they all began yelling over one another until it was an angry jumble of yells. " You VAT AFTER i TOLD- AH I VARNED YOU YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED" " JACK HOW-BUT-WHY, OH I NEVER SHOULD HAVE SHOWEN YOU HER MEMORIES I NVER WOULD HAVE THOUGH, H JACK I TOLD YOU WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!" Even Sandy was fantically creating symbols above his head so quickly Jack couldnt even make any of them out.

Jack listened gultily, not looking any of them in the eye, until he couldnt take it any more. " HRY! just, LISTEN!" He snapped. They glared at him. " I know, shes done some...bad..things in the past, but she's, shes changed. I spent time with her, she doesnt want to hurt anyone, she lives out in the middle of nowhere so she wont! Shes just, sad, and alone-" " Shes not you Jack." Tooth interupted. " Its not that she is evil, its just...she is dangerous, without meaning to be." " Shes right Jack, she wont mean to, but she'll infect ya, and then you'll be suffering horribly." Bunnymund added. " It only takes one look in her-" " one look in her eyes." Jack finished her sentace. " But Iv been with her for days, and Iv looked in her eyes a hundred times, and saw a sad girl, whoes been thorugh hell and back, forced to live off on her own, but Im o.k., maybe things are different now, maybe shes learned to controll herself-" " Its still dangerous Jack!" " but-" " Wait a minuet, North, you said he felt sick when he saw that shadow, is Black the one thats doing this?" " What?! It cant be, iv been with her the entire time, she hasnt been doing anything! Infact, somethings going on with her too!" Jack told them of Blacks coughing fit

When he was done, they all remained silent. Jack clung to the hope, that they had change their minds about Black, and didnt blame her anymore, or think she herself was dangerous, or causin trouble anymore. " If I saw Peetch again," North started " And both Black and I felt seek, maybe hes found way to her power." He suggested. " Not possible, her staff channels her power, Pitch coulnt be able to do that without it." Tooth said. " The it has to be her. Pitch cant-" " It isnt her!" Jack argued. " Jack if a disease spreads it has to be her," " It cant be her!" Jack thought as hard as he could of a way to prove her innocent, he thought of every second they spent together, the snowball fight, the chopping wood, the ice creations at the pond, the sparkling look in her eyes as she talked about her favorite book, or the way she cried as she thought of all the things she had done, the way she seperated herself from the rst of the world for their own protection...there was no way Black was doing something. It had to be Pitch, it just had to. He racked his brai for something, anything that would convince the others to leave Black alone.

The more he thought, the more he just kept coming back to Pitch. He remembered Blakcs past, and the way Pitch held her, the sickening way it made him feel. He remembered the lies he told her, the false comfort he gave her, and they way he betrayed her. Betrayed her. He remembered so clearly he could almost see it happeining again. Black'sstaff raised high in the air, Pitch yelling for her to stop, and the way the street pole shook ash she struck it. He saw the gem shatter, and a piece falling to the ground, sending waves across the streets, and felt the same peace wash over him again like the light. The shard, sending off the waves...the shard...Thats it!" " Black didnt do it, Pitch has a piece of her gem!" " What?!" the others said in unison. He told of how Black ended the plague exactly, stressing Pitches involment and the piece of gem that broke lose from the others.

Pitch took it with him, and-and now hes figured out how to use it somehow!" Jack said. " Look, iv been spending time with Black, and im perfectly fine, and I know her, she would never hurt anyone anymore, shes put herself thousands of miles away from everyone else to make sure she doesnt! You told me just being around her would start the plague again, if thats true, why does she stay so far off?" Jack waited as the others thought about this, when he felt the hairs on the bac of his neck rise, but he didnt know why. The longer he waited, the more it creeped up on him, setting his nerves on edge. " If thats true, we have a real problem on our hands. Bunnymund finnaly said. " Jacks right, its in Blacks memories, Pitch could have taken it." Tooth agreed. Jack wa relieved, but the uneasy feling still lingered. " Pitch cant just control her like that from a simple shard." North stated. " Not if she fought back. He would need her whole staff to start anything up again." Jacks stomach dropped. He knew what that ment, and what the started the uneasy feeling.

"He's going after her!" Jack yelling.

_  
After much stuggling, Black managed to retrieve her staff, and slowly regiaining hr energy, began prreparing herself to face Pitch. She could still feel his presence, getting closer and closer with each passing second. It had been a few hours scince their little game of tug-a-war, and even longer scince Jack left, and she prayed he would come back soon, she would need all the help she could get. She could stand and walk without stumbling now, but her reactios were still slow, and she fel weak. She knew she couldnt defeat Pitch this way, or even defend herself proporly, but she had no other choice. She could try and shadow herself elsewhere, but if Pitch could find her onnce, he could do it again. she would always have to keep moving, and the strain of that would only weaken her further. She wished the Guardians were here, even if they didnt like her. She wished she at least knew where any of them were to get help, but she was on her own until Jack came back. If he came back.

She flet his precence get closer and closer, and timed it five minuets before he would arive. She took a deep breath. After 600 years of running from him, after he used her, betrayed her, and tried to...she shook herself free of the memories. she could not afford to be scared now. she had to hold her ground, even though she knew she wasnt going to win. She was not going down ithout a fight. She wouldnt run away like seh did last time. her grip on her staff tightened, and the crecent blade emergeed from the wood. She felt him, so close she was sure he entered the outskitrs of Bodie now. She marched out the door, into the snowy decreped streets. She would come to him this time. She ran, as best she could, in the direction she could sense him. At last, after a few turns she saw him, pating from the running, scoweling with 600 years of pent up anger, smieliing memecingly. All of her confidnce vanished, the second their eyes connected. She felt like she did all those years ago, scared, betrayed, hurt, compleatly inferior to him in every way. Weak.

" Well well," Pitch taunted. " I see your doing well for yourself..." He gazed over the rotting houses, unamused. " Such a shame. If you hadnt gone all heroic on me, we'd be on top of the world right now." He mused. " While all thoe innocent people suffer? Not again Pitch, now leave!" Black spoke strongly, but her voice shoo a little. Pitch chuckled at this. You havent changed much have you? Still that little, stupid girl, no idea what to do with herself." Black glard at him. " Cant be around nayone else, but your little rats, head in the clouds, no purpose but the one I gave you, but oh, you ran from that didnt you? So tell me, is this any better?" she stayed silent." Casting yourself off into a rotting town, no one but yourself, no meaning ot anything anymore, just you and you alone." Pitch stopped, and chuckled again. " haha, No, I shouldnt sya alone not should I?" Blacks eyes grew wide.

" that little Guardians taking quite a liking to you hasnt he?" " Leave him be!" Black snapped. He laughed again. " Oh, I wont hurt him, im sure youll do that son enough." She stared at the ground. " haha, yes, if he stays, sooner or later, you will infect him, and make him suffer more than I ever could. Youll be alone again soon enough." " She reained silent. " Of course, IM still here, you cant infect me, Black, ill-" " want to infect thousands of people over again!" black glared at him. " I wont let that happen! Not if I have to be alone for the rest of etrernity, I wont let you use me to hurt anyone anymore, NEVER AGAIN!" she yelled. " Black stared at her, a disgusted look on his face. " Very well." And her lunged at her, A a great black pick axe sprouted from his arm, growing well over ten feet long, compleatly made of shadows. He charged at Black, and swung the blade at her, refusing to hold bakc anything. At the last second, Black jumped back, and caught the curved blade with her own, stopping it mid swing. With all her might, she heaved it backwards, spinning Pitch back around in a ful circle. He skidded to a halt, and smiled devilishly at Black. " I see you finnaly found some spirit in you." she glared at him. " I can take care of that." And he lunged at her again.

The realization hit Jack like a train. Pitch was going to go after Black, and he just left her on her own, weakened after a fit of coughs. " what is Pitch did that to her? Those coughs? What if he wanted her weak so he could take her easily?" The others thought on this with shock. they had never really thought of Black much, and now she posed both a threat, and a friend, if she can fend off Pitch for a while. Jacks breathing quickened as he began to panic. shes alone. He thought. " What if hes there now?" " We have to go." they agreed. With many protests from the others, bunnymund tapped his foot on the ground, and instantly a portal opened up from the ground. It was the quickest way, they all knew that, though they preferred the sleigh ( most of them). Without another though, they lept into the hole, and where whisked wyw at the spead of light into Bodie. Jack was practically thrown out, but lept to his feet quickly, spinning on his heel, trying to remember the way back to Blacks half dead house.

The sound of clashing blades rang from afar, and they charged in that direction. After a few turns, they sounds grew ouder, and he could hear Black cry out. Finnaly, as they rounded a caved in building, they saw her, a block away, fighitng Ptich himself. At the sight of them, he growled. " Black!"Jack cried out. At the sound of her name, she turned, giving Pitch an opening.

Black blocked another attack, already exausted. Their blades collided again, and she fought to fend him off. Her arms shook, and her legs threatened to give away. She breathed heavily, and struggled to hold her firm gaze, glaring at Pitch. She was just about to break, and he knew it. She had gone beyond her limits, and it wouldnt be long before she could no longer solf her scyth up much less use it. Suddenly, he heard someone cry out Blacks name, and in the distance he saw the Guardians. NO!Not this time! Not again! He thought. Black turned at the sudden calling, and he lung back his blade, letting the shadows dissapate back withing his arm. The force of the impact sent Blacks arms flying outwards, and she stumbled to hold her balance. That last hit was driven with enough force to finnaly fell Black. The wind was knocked out of her, and the blade in her staff retracted. She would no longer be able to fight. Pitch reached out, grasping the staff, and swung it around, so she faced the guardians. she still held the staff, clutching it for her life, as Pitch used it to trap her against himself. Her skin crawled as she felt the pressure of his chest against her.

the guardians watched in shock at the battle. Pitch spun her around, trapping her with her own staff. She cried out, and they could clearly see she was weak. she gave a few pathetic struggles against him, whimpering with fear. Pitch leaned in until he was right next to Blacks face, and whispered in her ear, just loud enough for the others to hear. " Ta,Ta," and vanished in a cloud of black smoke, surrounding them form Black's staff. The last thing Jack saw, were Blacks crimson eyes, widened with horror. Then they were gone. 


	15. Kidnapped

The last thing Black saw was Jack, standing amoung the other Guardians. So they did come to help after all. Even if it was too late for her, they could stop Pitch. She stopped careing what happened to herself long ago. Pitch grasped the staff, and in a n instant Black felt all of the strength she had left being sucked out of her. He was using her own power to shaodw them off. She tried in vain to stop it, but she could barely stand anymore, much less fend him off again. When the darkness cleared, Black saw they were surrounded by dark and damp rocks. They were inside some sort of cave. When everything settled, Black fell ot her knees, unable to hold her own weight. Pitch watched, almost satisfied with her suffering. He smile as her arms shook, trying to hold her up, before they gave away, and her face hit the cold hard ground once more.

Her breathing became labored, and she shut her eyes, exausted and in pain. She didnt reconize the cave they were in, it was not his normal safe haven. She guessed he believed it was too dangerous to go back there, lest the Guardians find an stop him. Fear gripped at her heart. She was going to suffer, she knew that, but if they were in some knew hiding place the Guardians have yet to know about, it wold be difficult to find them, leaving Pitch with as much time as he neeeded to figure out how to get the Plague started again. She couldnt let that happen, but she was less than worhtless now. After a few minuets of pacing in a cirlce around her, watching her suffer, Pitch decided to get on with things, save the pleasure of watching Black suffer slowly after his plans were safely in action.

Pitch snatched the staff from Blacks hands, with little resistance from her. She whimpered in pain and hoplessness adding to his joy. He tore off the white wrappings, revealing a dull crystal, compleatly shattered, and a small hole in its center. Pitch carefully took the small shard from his pocket, and held it up to the crystal. Black managed a weak "No" that Pitch was barely able to hear. He snapped it in place, and the crystal glew a bright white, illuminating almost the entire cave. Pithc took the oppertunity, and stretched out his own powers to it, seizing it compleatly. Black felt at is a hand had grasped her heart, and began to squeaze and twist it. she curled herself into a little ball and writhed in pain, sending moans that only increased Pitch's sadistic delight. she could feel power rising within her, but it was not hers, no could she control it, rather it controled her. She felt it dig into every nerve, sending white hot spikes over her body. She tasted blood as she began coughing, and it dripped from her eyes.

The seams and the cracks in the crystal merged together, completly repairig itself. Pitch felt it respond to him, felt Blacks pain though he himself did not feel injured. He chuckled darkly, and tapped the wall of the cave with the end of the staff. Black felt the pain rise consideribly in her, forcing her to shake and convulse with pain. she felt the energy and streangth being torn from her. She coughed up more blood, all to Pitch's amusement. The wall of the cave began to shake, and suddenly caven inward, creating a hole. Black reached out and tried to grasp something, anything. She ended up scratching the ground, leaving five thin white markes. she cried out as the cave opened up into an entire new place, almost identical to Pitch's last home. a large room opened up into hallways to many other rooms. The center held nothing more than a large throne, raised above the floor on a stage. Pitch stood in the opening of the cavern, admiering his work. as the new haven was finished, the pain slowly left Blacks body, though she still felt hersefl being drained.

Pitch picked her up carefully, loving the way she whimpered with pain at every little movement. he walked to the throne, and sat with her in his lap, clutching the staff in one hand. He lughed at Black, still keeping her eyes shut in a mixture of pain and fear. Fear of HIM. He gripped the staff tightly in his hand, and instantly an aura of black light shone from the crystal, puling outward, seeping over the entire cave and going furthur. this was just the beginning.  
_

Jack watched in horror as Black dissapeared with Pitch to God knows where. when they were gone, panic seized him. " Hes Taken her, we have to-" " Do what? we have no idea where they went." Bunnymund had a point. " We cant just let him-" " we know." Jack searched for something they could do, but it was hopeless. " He took her, and the staff, if he had that other part of the crystal-" " Back to the Pole." North said as they turned, they became aware of the small darkened shadows surrounding them. Without any of them realizing, a hundred tiney black shadows compleatly circled them, blocking off the path they came. As Jack stared longer at them, heart stopped in shock, he could make out a few forms of rats. They were Blacks old familiars! However, Jack did notice they were at least twice the size of the one that came out of the shadows before. For a while, no one moved, Gurdian nor rat. It was plain to see the rats shocked and scared them, silently creeping up behind them in such a large number, but it was the way that they just sat, staring at them through large, compleaty white and circular eyes that sent shivers down their spine. Then, without warning, a few dissaperated into the shadows, followed by a few more, and more until none remained. " W-what were those?!" Toothina askd with a shaky voice. " Blacks old familiars, they-they" "They were use to spread plague. North finished. " Theyv gone to join Peetch now, we must move!" But suddenly, another little shadow darted out from one building to the opposite across the crumbling street.

" Wait!" Jack called, but they had already seen it. Bunnymund clitched his boomerang, ready to fight, but the little shadow crawled out slowly, afraid of them all. It was much smaller than the others, and Jack reconized it as the one that seperated itself from the others, an almost touched Black. He urged them to back off, and after much hesitation, they did. The little Creature slowly crept its way past them, to the spot Pitch and Black vanished. It made a small circle in the snow, sniffing the ground and air. It squeaked weakly, and curled up where they last saw Black. " It didnt go with the others." Jack said as he cautiosly made his way tword the rat. " Jack stay back we dont know if-" but he had already taken it carefully into his hands, crfling it as it shook slightly. " After she ended the plague, they wouldnt come near her, but this one almost did." " JAck we dont know what that thing can do." Bunnymund raised his voice, and Sandy nodded quickly. " But the others left, so why didnt he?" Jack asked. No one had an answer. " Look if these things can find them, then maybe-" " We arent keeping it Jack, its not a pet it-its a- of for the love of its no better than a Nightmare! We dont know what it can do!" Bunnymund argued.

" Look at it! " Jack held the poor creature out, letting the others watch it shake in his palms. " If its dangerous why doesnt it-" " WE ARENT TAKI-" " Vait, he has pont!" North said. " Oh what? Now your actually going to-" " ve vere vrong before. Jack stayed with Black and he is O.K., This thing, vatever it is, is different. It stayed vhile others go, and it even looks different." North said. Jack smiled, finnaly someone on his side! " Theres no telling what it will do!" Bunnymund continued. Toothina fluttered closer, until she was in arms leagth of it. She slowly stretched out an arm, and tried to stroke its head, but it shrunk away from it. " I dont know, it doesnt seem to be hurting anyone." " OH FOR THE LOVE OF-FINE!" Bunnymund angrily tapped his foot on the ground, opening up another portal-hole. Jack carefully put the shadow rat in his sweatshirt pocket, and leaped through with the others.  
_

Pitch sat on his throne, holding Black in his arms. She lay motionless, eyes still shut, barely breathing. Pitch clutched her staff in one hand, the gem at its head glowing a dark black, sending rings of eerie light through the cavern, and out into the land beyond it. Pitch finnaly done it. He had all he needed to re-awaken the sickness that tormented this land 400 years ago, and sent the entire nation into terror. He could even use it to spread his nightmares. They would fear him again, the only thing stopping him now was Black. Even in her weakened state, litterly in the hands of Pitch Black himself, Black fought her own power, struggling to keep it inside. She was succeeding, only in the fact that the plague itself was not rising again, only a mild sickness, the flu. Pitch didnt care. He would only have to break her, and that would be fun. He was already on a power high, intoxicated on his won success and the agony he reduced Black to. He loved the way she shook in his arms, the shaky breath comeing from her mouth, the smell of blood radiating off her, the very faint beat of her heart, threatening to come to an end. He did want her to recover though, he wanted her to feel what he was going to do to her.

First, he would make her feel every last ounce of power she has left break, and be syphened out of her very body to spread across continents, infecting people that couldnt hope for a cure. Most importantly, he wanted her to feel the creation of their child, the one he would teach to hate the world the way he tried to teach her. Doing that, he thought, would be the most fun. she longer he held her, and the longer she suffered only excited him more, until he could bare to give her peace no longer. He sat her against his chest, with a leg on either side of his waist. He forcefully grabbed her rear, pushing her waist down, and lifting his own against hers, to show her how excited he was, and remind her of the torture soon to come. And remind her no matter what, she was his to control again. At his rough touch, and pressure against herself, she whimpered in fear, only adding to Pitches delight. A sudden flicker of shadows caught his eyes. In the dark corner, small shadows detartched themselves from seemmingly nowhere. A hundred rats appeared, and circle the steps of the stage.

Pitch reconized them instantly, threw back his head and laughed maliciiously. " now now my old friends" He raised Blacks staff. " You simply wont do" He gripped the staff, and a blackish mist shot out from the gem. Black was sent into covulsions again, shaking and moaning with pain against Pitch. He loved the way she screamed, and wished it would last just a bit longer, as the mist engulfed the rats. The shadows began squeaking, and soon the squeakes turned to piercing shrieks. The shadows that formed the rats began to bubble and churn, slowly growing five times thrir size. Their little claws turned into vicious talons, and their little snouts grew longer, spouting jagged teeth, as sharp as knives. Their ears grew longer and pointed, and their tails looked alomst like bone. when they finnaly stopped, they resembled boney horses, about the size of large dogs. They tossed their head and screeched as Pitch began laughing. He slumped back in his throne, enjoying far too much Blacks quivering at his new creationgs. She still had her eyes shut, but he knew she saw them through the crystal. Heck, it was her power. Only his doing. He slowly fan a hand down her lower back, lifting his waist into hers again. The Guardians would never find this place, she was his to do whatever he wished. 


	16. The Cavalry's Plan

Black still sat in Pitches lap, one leg on either side of him, unable to move much at all to her own accord. Pitches new rat creations layed lazily around his stage, ready to sping into a fight if need be. Pitch no longer feared the Guardians, but he would not let himself be blinded compleatly by his power, and be caught off guard without any typ of protection. As he waited for Black to recover enough to feel every little torture he concocted for her over the years, he began to grow more and more antsy. He could feel his power rise as the rat creatures slowly began spreadding a sickness. IT wasnt near as powerful as the Plague once was, but as soon as he could fully break Blacks spirit as he had her body, that would change. She still fought him internaly, trying to fend him off from her power, but now they were almost compleatly intertwined. She began shaking, and her breathing became laboured as she began losing the battle, and the sickness grew into a frightful epedemic. He noticed this, and his unrest grew. He relished in the fact that after 400 years he finnaly had Black litteraly at his feet, at his mercy, his and his alone.

Finnaly he could stand it no longer. She could still whimper, and he could feel fear resonating off her, that would be enough for him for now. He would wait no longer. With a single finger, he slowly drew Blakcs hair tie off, letting her long sooty blakc hair loose, fanning over her back and shoulders. He stroked her locks lightly, enjoying the feel of it between his fingers. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she began to tremble. He could feel his excitment grow, and was sure she could feel it too. Black felt her stomach drop with every movement he made against her, stuggling to raise a hand to stop him, but her wrist only twitched once, and refused to move. She was compleatly powerless against him now. He knew many enslavement spells, spells to make others bend to his will without hesitation and without question, unable to do anything but what he himself ordered, and a thousand of them ran though his mind. He though of everything he would force her to do, and grinned. He drew her away from him slighly, and slowly and nibly worked away at her buttons, enjoying the little whimperes she made.

Soon he had her cloak undone down to her waist, and slowly peeled back one side of it, revealing one bare shoulder, being sure the ends of his finders brused her skin. Oh how he loved the way she shook with fear. He snuck a hand in underneath the fabric, carresing and massasing her back. Her gasp got caught between chattering teeth. His pleasure only grew as he heard this, and lightly kissed her neck, before sinking in his teeth, making sure he drew blood.

Jack paced back and forth in front of Norths globe, his gaze darting back and forth, nervously clutching his staff. Where could they have gone? Whats he doing to her? He thought. He heard the others talking behind him, but he knew it was almost useless. They had no idea where they had gone, and even if they did they dont know how to stop the illness from infecting themselves or even how to stop Blacks rats. " The sickness is already spreading, quickly, but it isnt the plague." Bunnymund said. " She must be fighting." North grumbled, thinking on what to do. Jack sighed, frustrated, and leaned his staff against a work bench, so he could put his hands behind his head. He knew she was fighting, and he knew she was already weak. He didnt want to think of what she was going through, what Pitch was doing to her. He growled, and shoved his hands in his pockets, shutting his eyes in stress.

The rat sqeaked, and squirmed away from his hand, annd he felt something else, something cold, and hard. His eyes snapped open as he pulled it out. Norths Orb! " What about this!" He said, showing it to the others, then instantly wishing he hadnt. He had forgotten about the crack on it, and he didnt want to upset North anymore than he already had, intentionaly disobeying him and going after Black in the first place. Luckily North didnt even take a second glance at it. " Jack, ve can only use dat to see her, not vhere she es." North shot down. " But at least we can see her, maybe we can even look around, get at least an idea of where they are!" But really Jack just wanted to see her, to see that she was ok. Before Anyone could say anything, Jack shut his eyes and concentrated on Black. He expected to feel that same resistance as last time, but suprisingly found it easy to draw out an image. Infact, once the image apeared, he didnt even need to focus on it anymore. Its almost as if it acted on its own accord, wanting to show him. But once he saw Black, he wished he hadnt. He wished the orb had shattered compleatly like it almost had the first time. He saw Black, sitting in Pitchs lap, bare shoulder exposed, and the other side of her cloak threatening to fall as well. He Saw Pitch, touching Blacks bare skin, biting at her neck, leaving bright red crecents.

Jack clutched his fist in anger, and his stomach dropped. He hated Pitch more than he ever had, yet he could do nothing. They image revealed little of their surroundings, and did nothing more than show the torture Black was about to face. The torture he could not stop. The others saw, and shared his shock. Toothina looked away. Jack forced the image to dissaperate, unable to take watch anymore. He was seething with fury, but soon the rat in his pocket began to stir. At first he was annoyed, but the rat sprang from his pocket, and darted under chairs and between table legs, right tword Norths globe. They all jumped up, ready to go after the rat, but before any of them could take a step, it clawed its way up, settling over a large islang. England to be exact. It began clawing at a spot, and a tiney blue spark shone out amoung the yellow lights representing children. The rat continued to dig at that spot, until Jack cautiously made his way over. when he drew near, the rat stopped, and locked eyes with Jack, squeaking sadly. It crawled in a circle around the blue spark, sniffing at it, and squeaking continuesly. " There." Jack whisperes so low none could hear him. " There, shes there, the rats showing us!" " We dont know that, it could be a trap, the other rats left with Pitch didnt they? Hes crafty, he could have left this one behind on purpose." Bunnymund interjected.

" You saw what hes doing to her, we cant just let him..." He didnt want to finish the htought. " Even if its a trap, it would mean facing him, thats what we were just tring to figure out how to do wasnt it!" Jack argued. " But we dont now how to fight him not hes got Blacks staff." " We have to try, we cant just-" " The boy is right." North said firmly. " WHAT?! Your both out of your mind!" Bunnymund snapped. " If we go in there without a plan we-" " Ve vill have plan." Said North. Ignoring Bunnymunds furthur protests, he ordered his sleigh to be prepared, and gathered his best sabers. : This is suicide, what exactly do you plan on doing!" Asked bunnymund in a huff. " Peetches power comes from Blacks staff. We take her avay, he is veaker. Ve can learn from Black how to beat seeckness, and stop Peetch." Bunnymund thought this over. " How, hes bound to have more fearlings with him, and he wont let Black go so easily.

" We've faced them before-" Jack pinted out. " But now when hes had Blacks power." " Well we cant just sit here and do nothing!" Bunnymund thought this over. " Fine, but how exactly are we going to do this. If we have Black, those fearlings arent going to let us just hop in the sleigh and fly off, we should just use-" " Ve are going to use slegh to get zere, YOU are going to use hile to get Black out." North said, sharpening his blade. " But-" " Ve vill distract them vhile you go." " Then they will be after us." Toothina said. " We can deal with them, and when they see Black is gone they will be mre interested in getting her back." " So they will try and get you to do that!" " I dont think we have another choice, time is of the escence, and we cant afford to waste it, we have to get Black out of their so we can weaken Pitch and defeat him." Toothina stated. After much arguing, they finaly boarded the sleigh.

It was agreed at least that something had to be done, and that they had to use extream caution. They had no idea what lay in England, where the rat had pointed them, either Black or a trap, but at this point it was unsure which was more deadly. A trap would obviously be horrible, but as Bunnymund stressed (over and over again) they didnt know what Blacks power would be like at this point. Pitch was in controll, so she could be just as deadly to be around as she had in the Black Plague era. One look in her eye could be all it takes to infect them. North threw his snowglove, and a shared tension gripped all of them. Either a trap or Black lay ahead of them, but either way, they were problably in for a fight. Jack gripped his staff tightly. He would not let Pitch hurt Black or anyone else for that matter. The thought of him still sent shivers down his spine. As they passed through the great portal of light, he mentaly prepared himself to face Pitch, and whatever nighmare creatures he had designed for. 


	17. The Rescue

As they breached the other side of the portal, the chilling cold of an english winter engulfed them. At least a foot of snow covered the ground, and they were surrounded by trees. A rocky hill sat off a short distance away. They were in England, but they still had no idea where to go next. North stood alert, sabers in both hands, ready for any kind of trap Pitch layed for them, but they were alone. " Where-" But Jack was cut off as a small shadow materialized before them. North raised his saber, prepared to strike, but the small rat lept out from a burst forth from the snomey whisps of ash. Jack watched curiously, as it raied its tiny snout, and sniffed the air. It darted off in the direcion of the hills, moving effortlesly throu the snow. Before anyone coud say anything, Jack dashed after it. He was sure it was leading them to Black. the others followed quickly, still on guard and unsure if they should be trusting a rat. No, scratch that, a fearling. Toothinas wings fluttered rapidly as her eyes darted from one tree to another, searching for nay signs of an ambush. She had not forgotten the attack on her own palace not a year ago.

Bunnymud easily outran the others, even in the snow, but he kept his distance from the rat. His mind wandered to the plan thye had set. They were to invade wherever Pitch was keeping her, and he was supposed to get her and leave imidietly, and leave the fighting to the others, but the entire thing seemed ludicrous to him. They werent sure what kind of defenses or creatures Pitch had created this time, or even if Black was safe to be around anymore! The second they go in they could be infected and fall down before Pitch then and there, and even if she was alright, how were the others supposed to get out? They would have coutless fearlings tailing them when Pitch saw Black was gone. Not to mention they left the sled back where they landed. It was ridiculos, and full of holes, but it was the only plan they had. Time was a serious factor in all of this, and they couldnt afford to waste it. North had said Black must be fighting Pitch, or else the sickness would have gotten much worse by now. If she breakes, the Plague will repeat itself, and the Guardians were not invunreble to it. the mission was suicide, but he knew that it was this or nothing. They HAD to get Black away from Pitch, and weaken him. He hoped that if he gotten Black out in time he would weaken just enough to let the others slip. Toothina could fly out, as well as Jack and sandy, but North would have to get back to the slegh. His heart sank. The mission was too risky, dangerous, and just insane. There was no way all of them would make it back, and he knew that it North was at the biggest disadvantage for a raid.

North ran at full spead after the others, though he did question the rats reliability. But he was St. Nicolas North! The former Bandit King and ex-Cossack! This was just a raid, something he had done with his old band of theives thousands of times. He wasnt much of a thief anymore, but he ould pull this off, he knew he could, and he would not fail. He could not fail. He would not let Pitch rise and cause so much destruction, not to the children, not to anyone! He knew the risks and the faults of his plan, but they had to do something. His bravery refused to wayne, even thoug he knew he was ignorant of the creatures that Pitch had at his disposal. For now, all he could think about was little Black, what he had seen though the spying orb he had given Jack. He could not get the sickening images out of his mind. He almost coulnt believe Pitch would sink as so low as to do that, but then again he IS the Nightmare king. He knew Black was fighting him, she must be. From the looks of it, both from the orb and the split second he saw her at Bodie, she was severly weakened, if Pitch actualy...There was no way Black would be able to hold on after that. It was now or never, even with their faulty plan.

Jacks mind was filled with nothing but worry. Worry over whatever creatures Pitch had formed with Blacks power, worried over What might happen if they went in, worried about what he could do...WAS doing to Black... H shook the images from his mind. It felt like a hand was sqeazing his heart, and his stomahc neverfelt lower. He had to get there, he didnt care if he had to fight a hundred fearlings to reach them, but he just HAD to get there. He could only pray he wasnt too late already. His eyes were fized on the rat, ignoring everything around him, even the others. He wasnt alert for any kind of danger at all, though he knew he should be. But the only thing he was focused on was getting to Black. He only stopped as they came to the side of the rocky hills, finding a large opening in its side, partialy hidden with snow and dead vines.

They took only a few moments to go over what was to be done, distract the fearlings while Bunnymund takes Black. Of course there were protests, but they all knew that if they didnt try now it was all over. Soon they crept their way in, and found another opening. They heard soft growls, and rumbles from what they guessed were fearlings, and soft crys of pain whch they knew were Blacks.

Pitch continued lightly brushing his fingers across Blacks bare back, going beneath the cloak, only covering her other shoulder. He loved the way she squirmed against him as he bit her neck again, making sure he drew blood. He dragged his nails across her covered shoulderblade over to the bare one, enjoying her groans of pain. He closed his eyes and took in the scent of her sooty black hair. It was just as he remembered it, still smelling of a burning fire, the very same that led to her demise. He moved his lips to her earlobe, ad was about to bite it as well, when the large rat creatures began to growl.

Pitch's eyes shot open. No! They cant be here! He thought. He was sure they would not be able to find him, let alone so quickly. It had only been three days scince he had taken Black, how could they have found him so easily? His pleasure filled grin turned into a hatefull sneer. No matter. He thought. " Go!" At his command, the rats lept from their sleeping places, and charged at the opening. This was it, now or never form the Guardians, but they had been spotted before they even entered! Jack was fist to react, leaping out from the opening, sending a wave of ice at the direction of the growls with his staff. For a small second, he could not believe his eyes. His wave only managed to freeze a single fealing, and the others lept back, growling at him. He had never seen cuch monsters before! They resembled the rats in a way, the same skull shape, and tail leangth, but they were imensly different from the rats that folowed from Bodie. They were the size of large wolves, eyes a holowed out white, sharp teeth so large a few portruded form the mouth. They were boney, creatures, looking almost starved, but their feet were as large as Norths hands, bearing ferosious talons. Their smokey fur that once whisped seemingly in the wind looked almost slick now, geasy even. Jack had been expecting something that looked much grander, like the horses hed first seen Pitch use, not these horriifying beasts!

Jack only snapped out of it as another charged. Norths saber lashed out at the last second, shattering the creature into a thousand tiney pieces that slowly disapereated. With a loud " AHA!" North fell upon the beasts with little mercy. It made little difference however. It seemed for evey one that fell, two took its place again, like a ferocious hydra. Bunnymund stayed back as he watched the others fight. His gaze was focused on Pitch and Black, sitting untouched on his pedestal. She was still in his arms, there was no way of getting to her! As he tried thinking of some stratagy, two growls caught his attention. The rat beings had found him! But he was more than ready for a fight. He threw his boomerangs, shattering the two lept out, joining the fight.

Pitch sat in his throne, still holding Black. For the first time, Black opened her eyes. She knew that war cry. She struggled to see, but managed to catch a small glimpes of the battles behind her. The Guardians? How? Pitch watched with satasfaction as his new creatures rained down upon the guardians, always ready to take the place of the fallen ones before them, wearing down the Guardians quickly. Jack and North had slowed in their blows, and Sandy, though still slashing out with whips, began to leave openings, and looked as if he was almost surrounded. Black couldnt take it, she had to do something, but what could she do? It was the first time she was able to open her eyes in half a week! The battles continued, filling the entire cave with angry growles and war crys, until finnaly a rat bit ahold of one of Norths sabers, tearing it loose from his hand. In the shock of this, another latched onto the other, and refused to let go, forcing his arm to extend outward. Jack was is no positon to help, and could only hold his breath as another charged forth, and opened its jaws to sink into norths arms. "...stop..." Black whispered so quietly Pitch could barely hear. At the last moment, the rats hear snapped back, and it roared confused. The others soon stumbled back on their bony legs, shaking their heads, snorting.

It was as if something had hit them all. It lasted only a second, and they were again glaring at the Guardians, snapping thier jaws eagerly. As they sunk low to the ground, just about to pounce once more, Black whispered again, "...stop..." and they beats appeared as if they had been struck back on their forepaws, screeching and snorting, unsure. North didnt wait this time, and tore his sabe loose, shattering another of the rats. He lept after his other, and stood in a full fighting stance, waiting for his opponents to make a move. Jack and Sandy surveryed the rats, then locked confused eyes with each others. Pitch had head Black. With one hand, he grabbed the back of her cloak. " Stupid girl!" and hurled her down the steps of his stage. She tumbled down, and landed in a heap on the rocky ground. She lay on her side, unmoving. The rats toosed their heads one last time, then roard in anger at the Guardians. Bunnymund saw hs chance, and lept around the rats, snapping at his feet, missing only at the last second. He reached Black and turned, ready to defend himself, glancing back at her. It was odd seeing her like that, broken, weak, lying in hurt at the bottom of the stepping stages.

He had never seen her before, but from what the others had told him of her, he had imaginged her looking more cruel, like Pitch. Wild hair, cracked lips, crooked talons, hunched back, pointed nose, wrinkly face, but now she just looked, weak. Broken. He actually felt sad seeing her like that. The rats quickly surrounded him, growling, waiting to pounce. Pitch realized what he was going to do a second too late. Bunnymund quickly picked Black up, holding her carfully in bridal style in his arms, and tapped his foot twice. He was gone before anyone could blink. 


	18. Escape

A/N: I am so sorry this chapter took so long! My laptop is infected with some kind of virus and its become infected beyond repair, I have been so frustrated with it its become difficult to write, I had this chapter almost done at one point, but my computer decided it was not going to let me save it, crashed, and deleted EVERYTHING! Again, I am very sorry for the delay in the new chapters, and please bear with me as I try to fixed and or reset my laptop, into proper working order.

Bunnymund came through the other side of the portal, back into Norths workshop. Black fidgeted weakly in his arms, unacoustom to the sensation. He jumped as he heard a loud growl behind him. He spun around, anc came face to face with another rat creature. One had lept after him into his hole, and followed him back! He felt Black clutch at his fur. He would not be able to defend himself whie holding her, but there would not be enouh time to safely place her somewhere else, and he couldnt just, drop her! He was stuck. He bent his ears back, showing his teeth in a threatening scowl, glaring right into the snareling face of the fearling. He turned slightly, in an attempt to sheild Black with his own body. The rat creature scratched the floor in anticipation, snapping at the air with his jaws. Its boney tail swung back and forth, almost playfully as it crouched low, preparing to pounce.

Bunnymund curled himself around Black, bracing himself for the attack, but none came. A thundering BOOM sounded in front of him, and the floor shoo lightly underneath his feet. He looked up suprised to see a large white furred creature, holding a club over the lat bits of shadow remains of the rat creature. The yeti growled something he could not understand, and went on about his work. Bunnymund watched the shadowy whisps of the rat dissapate, and vanish, his nose twitching, still hiped up from the recent battles. Blacks small twitching brought him back down. He found a long wooden bench, pressed against the wall, and gently layed Black onto it. She clutched her cloak to her chest, and shiver. He found an old wool coat, and covered her with it. Her fingers unconciously clutched it imidietly, and she tucked herself into it. She looked like a large ball of fidgeting fabric.

He watched her almost curious, and again he was struck with the difference between the image he imagined of Black and well, BLACK. He had always pictured her as a witch, like the ones told to all of us as children. Old, cruel women, with ugly wrinkled faces and pointed noses and chins that curled tword each other, rotten teeth, cateract filled eyes, long taloned fingers. Black was nothing like that, infact, the compleat opposite. he looked about 17, 18 maybe, and though her face looked tired, dead even, she maintained a somewhat cute disposition. Though she appeared child like in the face, as he looked longer at her face, she gave the impression of having great wisdom, and a gentle hand. Certinly nothing as he expected. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face, and she recoiled form his touch. His stomach sank. She was afraid of him? But, he was there to help? What could Pitch have done to make her this disturbed? He couldnt take it anymore." You're alright." He cooed to her. Her eyelids fluttered open, just enough to reveal the crimson color was shocked at the colour. Blood Red. He thought, and the terrifing image of what eh thought was Black began tugging at the back of his mind again.

Black wasnt sure what was going on. She began fading in and out of conciousness some time ago. She had been aware of the Guardians invading Pitchs lair at one point, but nothing more. She jumped at the foreign sensation of a gentle touch on her cheek. It wasnt what she had been expecting from Pitch, or what it someone else? She opened her eyes as best as she could, and saw not the darkend rocks of the cave, or Pitchs ccold stare, but a brightly colored room, decorated elegantly with curling strings of gold. She caught sight of Bunnymund, and could not believe it. She began fearing this was some sort of trick, that Pitch was doing this, to give her some sense of hope, before torturing her further. But something was different. Black no longer felt Pitchs presence, and she felt the drain on her power lessen. She did recall the Guardians fighting the rats, fighitng Pitch, but everything became a blurr after that. Her vision blurred, and cleared over and over again, and her head felt light. She locked eyes with Bunnymund, who looked just about as uneasy. She could tell he was nervouse being around her, and seh understood why. Her lips trembled as she tried to speak, managing only faint whispers.  
_

Bunnymund watched, as she searched the room anound him slowly, her dull eyes never seeming to actually SEE what was around her, and for a second he wondered about her sanity. For a second he wondered about HIS sanity. He had planned on being cautious around Black, not trusting Jacks word in concerning safety around her. Infact, he had been ranting on the dangers of handling Black and even entering the cave where she and Pitch were, and now here he stood, after coddeling her, watching over her, and now locking eyes with her. At any moment he could fall down infected by some horendous disies, but he was no longer afraid of that. He was no longer afraid of HER. Black Plague, killer of thousands, disies...fearling. What was wrong with him? What changed? Sudenly, he locked eyes with Black, and he didnt dare move a muscle. His nose twitched in anicipation, watching Blacks lips tremble. He perked his ears, tring to catch what she said, though she could only manage a few words in hushed whispers.

" T-t...Th-thank...you..." she managed. He nodded, unsure of what else to say. " O-others...safe?" She asked. " They're alright, they're alright." he nodded again. But he himself wasnt actually sure. He left them in the middle of a swarm of fearlings, alone with Pitch himself, they could all be dead for all he knew! But he woulndt tell her that, not in the state she was in. She sighed, relived at the news. She shook lightly, and fought to keep her head up, but Bunnymund gently patted her down, and her eyes flutter shut once more, with a weakened ghasp. He didnt know why, but he began stoking her sooty hair as she fell alseep (or unconcious, he didnt know) His mind wandered back to the cave, and he wondered if he should go back. He could see them now, backed against the wall, surrounded by those rat creatures, and Pitch, God knows what Pitch would do to them to find Black again. He wanted to return to them, to get them out of there, or at least lend a hand in battle, but he recalled the fearling that followed him to the Pole.

If that one can follow him in a split second, then the entire hord might as well follow him and the others the second time. Even with the Yetis help, they would still be in trouble. The rats followed Pitch from Bodie, vanishing shortly after he and Black did, so what if they could follow each other as well? They seemed to come out of no where, many replacing one that had fallen, so thousands could join the few that follow them. Not to mention Pitch might come himself as well. He knew they would not be able to protect Black in the middle off that kind of chaos, and if Pitch got a hold of Black again, all their efforts so far would be wasted. He growled. He could just have to wait, and hope for the best.

He caught a flicker of scarlet red of the corner of his eye. He expected Black had woken again, but the red was coming from a patch of skin between two locks of hair. He had brushed htem apart on accident with his hands. He pulled the rest of her hair back, revealing four cresent shaped marks of her neck, slowly dripping ruby red liquid. He reconized them as bite marks. He searched for some bandages, or guaze, something he coul use to stop the bleeding, but found only white cloth left over from a dolls dress a yeti was making. Scince he could find nothing else, he decided it was good enough for now, and pressed it firmly to Blacks neck. Her teeth clenched, and he tensed up in pain, but he kept it at her neck.  
_

Jack saw though a small flash of light, Bunnymund and Black vanish down the hole,half excited that Black was safely away, and scared now that Pitch would be even more furious with them, not to mention they still have to find a way out of this cave with the rats after them. When Black was gone, the rats seemed to have a collective moment of confusion, tossing their heads back and forth, and looking all about the room, as if they were serching for something. North didnt waste a second, and bounded tword the mouth of the cave. " GET THEM! AND DONT LET THEM ESCAPE YOU FILTHY CREATURES!" Pitch ordered. The rats seemed to snap out of it, and began snareling at Jack once again. He waved his staff furiously, freezing as many fearlings as he could. Little By little he inched tword the door, closely followed by Sandy and North, weilding Blade and whip with a masters skill. The success in rescueing Black seemed to ignite a new spark, erasing their exaustion.

Pitch watched in anger as the Guardians slowly made their was to the mouth of the cave. He would NOT let them escape his grasp again! He himslef lept forth, weilding Blacks scyth with more skill than she herself had. He slashed through a few of his own fearlings, until he reached Jack. This began with Jack, it was his fault Black was gone now, he was sure of it, and he would not let Jack escape without punishment. Jack turned from a few more frozen rats, and his heart stoppped as he came face to face with Pitch Black himself. Fear paralized him, and he could only watch as Pitch raised Blacks scyth above his head, and in one fluid motion, sliched through the air, aiming for Jacks throught. Jack shut his eyes, and waited for the blade to cut through him, waited for death, but it never came. At the last second, a hairs bredth from his skin, the blade stopped, and flug outward with a spark, as if its colided with another piece of metal. Pitch halted only for a second in confusuion, but his anger pushed his arm to strike again.

Again the blade was shot back, just in centimeters from Jacks neck, spitting out sparks of blue and white. for every attempt Pitch made to strick Jack, and the blade was reflected, the rats seemed to recoil from an unseen pain. The blade made a revibing "shing" sound, as if it had just been torn from its sheeth, and the sounds vibrated and rang out against the cave walls. The rats tossed their heads, and screeched in pain as the sound rerached them. The others were confused, but didnt stick around to fide out what was going on. Toothina was the first to reach the mouth of the cave, wainting for the others, refusing to leave without them. Sandy and North reached just seconds later. North waved for the others to go, with much protests from them. He shouted at Jack, but he was far too engaged with Pitch to hear. Pitch struck again, and again the rats recoiled. Jack watched, shocked and unsure at them. Finnaly coming to his senses, he brought his staff uwards, colliding it with Black staff, missing the blade. The connection of the wood souned more mettalic, and soon it began to glow a faint white and blue. Jack felt as if he hit a hard surface, and felt no pressure of Pitch pushing against it. Pitchs arms however began to shake, and he stared dumbstruck at the glowing connection of the staffs. He felt Jacks staff retaliation against his own, but his staff itself seemed to also be pushing against him, unresponsive to the force or direction Pitch applied to it.

With a loud crack and a bright white and blue light, Pitch was flung back, and the rats howled in agony. Jack felt a strong blow against his staff, but it was barely enough to give his hands a jolt, much less throw him back as it did Pitch. Jacks legs moved of theri own accord, propelling him tword North, and together wit the others, out of the cave. No sooner had they set foot in the snow outside than they heard the angry snarels behind them once more. They didnt dare look back, but they knew hundreds of them were close behind. Jack took to the air alongside toothina, and Sandy quicly followed on a wave of sand. Only North continued the run on foot. North however displayed no signs of fatigue, and even flying Jack had trouble keeping up. Norths Triumphant laugh echoed trhough the entire forest,almost drownding out the growls behind them. Jack began sending long spikes of ice behind himself, not realy aiming at anything. Rguardless of the blind shots, for every attack jack sent, at least one growl sounded back, giving him an alarming idea of the width of the hord presuing them. North reached his slegh once more, and no sooner had he lept inside than his faithful reighndeer began to charge off, away from the rats. Jack held his breath as they grew closer and closer, running only a leap away from the metal. At the last second, North pulled on the reigns, and took to the sky. A rat jumped, and missed the runner of the sliegh by a small inch.

His heart pounding, Jack couldnt help but smile. They had done it! He wanted to be happy, if only a little, but the fight was far from over. Black was safe, but that only put him and the others in that much more danger, from Pitch and even Black herself. He wasnt sure waht was going to happen next. He landed alongside North, the exaustion finnaly hitting him, and squinted into the bright light as North threw his snowglobe. 


	19. Misery

A/N Again sorry for the delay in updates, m laptop is still buggy as heck, and in this chapter North has a lot of dialog I tried to include his accent as best as I could, but in case you don't understand it I will be re-typing it without accents at the end of the chapter. Also, my laptop is going to be taken into a repair shop (soon not sure exactly when) so expect even worse delays soon. Very sorry for the delays, current and upcoming, and thank you for bearing with me though the past couple weeks with delayed updates, and thank you for reading Guardians~Black Plague!

Black no longer felt the connection between her and Pitch, but she still felt her strength being drained from her, though it had slowed considerably. She faded in and out of consciousness, only vaguely aware of her surroundings. She kept repeating what she did know over and over again, when her mind was able to pull itself together.

" Pitch is gone. The Guardians are safe. You are with them. Pitch is gone. Pitch is gone."

Black became aware of a pressure on her neck, and tried squirming away from it, but it stayed firmly on her pulse. She gave up, not really caring anymore. It wasn't hurting her anyway, though it did slightly bother her that she didn't know what exactly it was. She tried opening her eyes to look at it, but only managed weak flutters every once in a while, through which she saw nothing but blurred shapes, outlines, and bright colors that almost hurt her eyes. She began hearing faint voices, well, sounds she guessed were voices. They registered to her as incoherent " WA-WA "s. It reminded her of some old cartoon she once saw when she dared ventured into town. The voices were frantic at first, overlapping one another, but soon softened into hushed words, spoken calmly to one another. She didn't know why, but the voices somehow calmed her. She guessed it was because it meant she was not alone, not facing Pitch by herself any longer, that is, if she wasn't imagining the whole thing. If she wasn't going insane fr- No. No this was real. She thought. This IS real.

" Pitch is gone. The Guardians are safe. You are with them. Pitch is gone. Pitch is gone."

Pitch is gone...  
_

" Where is she? Is she all-" " Quiet! She is hurt, and she needs rest!" Bunnymund quieted Jack. Seeing him hold down something on Blacks neck, however, only furthered Jacks worries. " Whats wrong? Is she going to be o.k.?" Jack questioned frantically, still not hushing his tone. Bunnymund sighed with irritation. " No, you idiot! She's bleedin' from the neck and I couldn't find a bandage!" Bunnymund snapped. He gave a frustrated sigh, and calmly added, " She's weak. she cant stay awake for long, and she can barely move or speak." " Speak? She's Said Something?" "How bad is the bleeding?" " Is she going to make it?" The others questioned feverishly, adding to Bunnymunds distress. If Black succumbed to Pitch, it would mean hes taken the entirety of her power. They didn't know if they could afford that, just yet. It wasn't until Sandy created a large, firework like explosion of sparkling sand that they quieted. He glared at them and pointed a finger at Black. He wanted them to keep quiet, and allow Black to rest, thought the action only made Jack more anxious.

He watched the large coat slowly rise and fall and shake as Black took weak breaths beneath it. He could see splotched of crimson against the white fabric peek out from under Bunnymunds hand. Jack stepped forward, wanting to go to her side, but North stretched out a hand, halting him. He motioned Bunnymund to come away from her as well. When they were all together, and away from Black, he addressed them in a grim tone. " Ve can not grow close. Is not safe. She grows veaker by second. She is no longer in control of own pover. Ve have to stay avay as much as ve can." The news outraged and pained Jack. He fought to prove she was safe, and she was! But North had a point. So long as Pitch has her staff, and the gem within it, Black was no longer in control of herself. She could very well be dangerous again. But she was weak, Bunnymund said she could barely keep conscious, how could they just, put her in a corner and cross their fingers like that?

He could barely stand it. He wanted to protest, but he knew in any case, North was still right. They had no idea what would happen with Black. But Pitch was on the other side of the world right? could he truly control her from such a great distance? What if- But his thoughts were cut off and North began speaking again. " Ve vill have to strike soon. Ve have to make plan, and fast vhile Peetch is veakened by seperation of Black. Ve must take time to recover, and speak further." It wasn't until he mentioned rest that Jack became aware of his own exhaustion. He felt as if his arms weighed fifty pounds more than they should, and even more on his legs. His back ached, and his eyelids drooped slightly. He noticed how worn the others seemed too, nursing throbbing muscles, and tired expression pulling down their faces. They agreed, and departed, leaving only Jack and Sandy in the workroom, clear on the other side from where Black rested along on the bench. They watched her in silence, not sure what to o or what they could do considering the dangers.

Jack did not want to let Black just, lay in the corner suffering, and he thought Sandy did too. It wasn't until Jack heard a faint noise behind him that he shifted his gaze away from Black. North stood in the doorway, arms crossed and the lines on his face standing out darker than they normally do. His normal, cheery face was left in a hard expression, showing more and more age in his appearance than Jack ever noticed. North walked silently and slowly to Jacks side, keeping his gaze on Black." There is much to talk about." North stated flatly. though hardly anything was said for a time. In the beginning, North just stood neck to Jack, staring at Black with an intensity Jack could not place as anger, pity, or fear. " You found Black, after vat I told you." The pit of Jacks stomach churned with guilt, and he nodded, refusing to meet Norths eyes again. " It is likely Peetch found black through crystal shard, because you voke something inside her, something that vas locked away years ago." North stated almost emotionlessly. Jack swallowed hard. So it WAS his fault. All of it.

Jack felt cold, almost numb. His breathing ceased for a moment, and the churning in his stomach dropped until he thought he might be sick. He felt the space of his heart grow cold, and ache, as if it was frozen solid, and every beat seemed to increase the throbbing pain. It was his fault Black sat in that bench, half dead, unconscious, bleeding from bite marks from Pitch when he almost... His stomach sank further, and he felt like his heart would tear itself apart. " I-I never meant for this to happen it was...I have to...I'm sorry-" North shook his head, and Jack fell silent. " It may not be all bad thing..." He started. Jack stared at the old saints face, though he still focused on Black. " Black has been alone since end of Plague. She feared every night, and vas forced to separate herself from rest of vorld. Shes been at that town for over two hundred years. Shes been alone, until you showed up." North locked eyes with Jack for the first time since he found Jack had found Black. " You gave her a Friend, even though it might have destroyed you. You showed, that she may not be the monster ve see, and even the one she sees herself as. That's vat voke the crystal. For first time in years, she vas happy."

A little of the weight Jack felt over him lifted, but most of it still pressed down upon him. He might have given Black a friend after centuries of solitude, but he also attracted Pitch, and because of that Black now lays before him broken and dying. No, not dying, she CANT die. Not now! He told himself. Black shook lightly, struggling a gasp catching in her throat. He could see the coat over her rise and fall rapidly as she struggled to steady her own breathing. After a few seconds, the struggling stopped, and the rise and fall of Black breathing steadied itself again. the chest in Jacks chest worsened. Before he could begin dwelling on it any longer, shimmering Golden sand erupted from somewhere to his side. Sandy stretched forth a hand tward Black, and a thin stream of sparkling sand twisted forth, gliding on an invisible breeze tward Black. The sand circled Blacks head, half covered with the woolly fabric of the coat. The sand contracted and expanded in an unrecognizable blob, then began to twist and wind into a small form. It circled around itself into a small oval, and sprouted out wings and a tiny head, and continued to shift and change until a tiny bird circled around Blacks face. Almost instantly, Black let out a content sigh, and the rise and fall of her breathing deepened into a healthy slumber.

The relief was short lived however. Soon the bird began to flap its wings frantically, twisting and turning in place, as if trying to evade some unforeseen enemy. Black began to fidget and squirm beneath it, uttering groans Jack could not place as either fear or pain. Jack looked to Sandy for, hopefully, and explanation, but the Guardian only stared at Black, with the same concerned wondering Jack felt, a low frown pulling on his face. Soon the birds flapping halted all together, and it thrust its wings outward, its mouth open in a silent shriek of pain. The brilliant golden sand darkened into a hideous gray, and the bird gave one final wave of its wings, trying to fend off the unseen terror, and turned into a darkened Black. The black bird fell to its belly, still opening and closing its beak in unheard cries. Black began to writhe frantically, and her hand shit out from under the coat, gripping it with her nails until the veins in her hand stood out. The sand began to quiver and still the bird squirmed under and invisible weight. The Guardians recognized the Black sand instantly, but before any of them could move, Blacks own hand shot out, and grasped the bird within her sharp nails, crushing it completely.

Jacks breath caught in his throat. What had happened? Did Pitch contort the sand through Black? Could he actually do that? Blacks fist hung in the air as the last of the sand either dissipated or returned to its golden color, and back to Sandy, then slowly settled back down beside her. The little Guardians touched what little sand returned to him, as if cradling a hurt animal. His mouth hung open slightly, still in its deep frown. Jack guessed he didn't know what happened either. It was North who broke the tense silence. " Peetch controls Black through crystal. She is not safe. Not to us, not to herself." Jack watched as Blacks face twisted into a pained expression, occasionally twitching an eyebrow. So Pith could still get to Black. Even from the other side of the world. And it was his fault. His stomach sank further. They had stolen Black away from Pitch, away from all his tortures, but even now, from the other end of the world, he could still torment her. They could not keep her safe, even though she was there not ten feet in front of them, free of any bindings, thousands of miles of Pitch, they could not save her. But there was something else bothering him, something that happened battling Pitch. " North," He started. " Back when we fought Pitch...Blacks Scythe...it didn't...why didn't it hit me?" North thought for a moment, ad opened his mouth to say something, but a small, almost inaudible voice spoke first. " Because the staff is mine...it is a part of me..." Wide eyed Jack snapped his head to the bench across from him, stunned to see two crimson orbs staring back at him from underneath a mess of tangled black hair and fuzzy woolen cloth. " And I would never hurt you." Black said.

Norths Translations:

" You found Black, after what I told you."

"It is likely Pitch found Black though the crystal shard, because you woke something inside her, something that ws locked aay years ago."

"It may not be a bad thing."

"Black has been since the end of the plague. Sh has feared every night, nd was forced to seperate herslf from the rest of the world. Shes been at theat town for over two hundred years. Shes been alone, until you showed up."

"You gave her a friend, even though it might have destroted you. You showed that she may not be the monster we see and evern the one shee shees herelf as. Thats what woke the crystal. For the first time in years, she was happy" 


	20. Of Blood and Posies

Jack stared wide eyed as Black slowly sat up on the wooden bench. She clutched her half undone cloak around her, as her fingers were still too numb to fiddle with the buttons. Dark circles stood out against her pale skin, and lines creased her face. Her once viberent, crimson eyes were now dull and listless, half hidden underneath her eye lids, staring at the ground. She trembled lightly as moving posed to be more of a strain than she intened. she still felt incredibly weak, and the ever slight drain on her energy was prominent, but it had lessened enough for her to recover, if only a little. She slouched, and slowly swung her legs over the side of the work bench. The ends of her cloak lay in a bundle beside her, allowing her legs to slip out from underneath them to the knee. It was the first time Jack had actually seen her feet and legs, and though they appeared as he thought they would, it struck him as odd to see them, and felt they were out of place without the cloak around them. Black touched her feet to the tiles beneath her, slowly and gently, as if the tiles caused her pain. She pulled the coat around herself, forming a loose cocoon of wool.

After a few seconds, no one dared to move. Jack, North, and Sandy all seemed to cease breathing for a moment, staring at Black. she in turn stayed almost compleatly still, save for her weak trembeling, trying to recover lost energy. She took a single, shaky breath, and repeated the answer to Jacks question. " The scyth would not touch you, because I would never hurt you." After a moment of disturbing thoughts, she added "Intentionally". Jack almost could not believe it. Black had been almost dead when they arrived and now she was sitting and speaking with him. He wondered half horrified if the almost-nightmare that had warped Sandy's sand had anything to do with her sudden gain in power. Before Jack could ask anything, North beat him to it. " You're alright?" She gave a tiney smile, and nodded. North shouted something he could not understand, causeing Black to shrink back within her fabric cocoon. A second later, a large Yeti, suprisingly wearing a light pink apron, appeared in the doorway, caring a large metal goblet, containing steaming hot chocolate. The yeti quickly rushed into the room, but slowwed as he caught sight of Black. He mumbled something, again that Jack could not understand, and cautiously approched Black, as if she were some sort of creature that would lung out and attack him. He held out the goblet, and Black slowly grasped it, so lightly and gently Jack thought for sure it would just slip right through her fingers, and he was relieved when it didnt.

Black managed a weak thanks and gingerly sipped at the warm drink. After a few sips, her thirst of the better of her, and she gulped down half of the goblet before lowering it again. she finnaly lifted her gaze from the floor. Her eyes met with Norths, and Jack felt a small twinge of sadness and jelously that it had not been him, but they quickly passed. She gave another weak smile. " Hello North. How goes it?" North smiled in return, and gave a warm chuckle. "Black, its been long time." Jack was shocked. North obviously knew of Black, with all the warnings he had given him about her, but it never stuck him that North actually KNEW Black. " You two've met?" He asked. Black gave a faint giggle. " He chased me back in the times of the dark ages. Thought I was Pitch." She smiled and raised a brow in playful accusation at North. " You look like, how vas I to know?" He chuckled again. " You almost sliced me in half!" Black tried to laugh, but suddenly she ran out of breath, and had to take a large gasp of air.

Before Jack could question furthur, Bunnymund called out from behind them, " So, shes awake." Jack had trouble placing his tone. He wasnt sure if Bunnymund was relieved or dissaponted Black had recovered. He stood between North and Jack, his arms crossed and nose twitching. Black raised her head slightly as she caught sight of him. "Hello again." Bunnymund nodded in response. Blacks smile faded then. " Wheres Pitch? " Black seemed to look ill as she spoke him name. " Still hiding. Him and those...things he created." Black nodded grimly. A sudden, high pitched sqeak from within Jacks hoodie caused him to jump. Something from within he pocket began to stir, and a flash of black leaped out onto the floor beside him. The little rat they followed to Pitch's lair sat up on its hind legs, sniffing the air in the direction of Black. Her eyes seemed to lighten a bit at the sight of him. The rat sqeaked once more, and scurried to Black. She clutched the metal goblet in one hand, and with the other, she slowly stretched toword the ground. the rat slowly climed onto her palm, and remained still as ice and Black lifted in onto her lap. " Goliath." she whisperd its name, and it sqeaked happily, and rubbed its head against her thumb.

Carefully placing the goblet on the work bench next to her, and stroked Goliath with her index finger. " Goliath?" Jack questioned. He was unaware that the rat had a name, and wondered briefly if the other rats did, and how Black could possibly remember all of them. The rats ears perked up at the sound of its name, and Black nodded. " The first of my rats. This one I never intened to...to cause harm." Black stated. Jack thought she would continue, but she remained silent. Jack thought about what she said about her scyth, and why it didnt hurt him, but something didnt make sense to him, and he was detirmined to get finnaly get some answeres. " You said the scyth wouldnt hurt me because YOU would never hurt me," He started. Black met his eyes, and seemed almost saddened as he continued his question. " If it wont hurt me because You would'nt hurt me, then how could Pitch use it to make those rats and start up the plague again?" North, Bunnymund, and Sandy all stared at Black, also wishing to know the answer. Black sighed. " The gem within the staff holds the power to do such wrong, and only the gem. When I first destroyed the gem, the power within it became broken as well, that is, until Pitch repaied it, and forced it to yeild to him, and him alone. The gem,Incubo, as its called still needs me to actually gemerate the energy for Pitch to use its power, and I feel it even now draining me slowly. That is the only reason I am alive now. Should I die, Incubo, would become a worthless rock. The scyth itself, is still mine, and as much a part of me as my hand, or my eyes." Black finished, and turned her attention to Goliath, almost as if she were trying to distract still wondered about the gem, Incubo, as Black had named it, but understood the relationship between her and her staff. He shared that very connection with his own staff, and shivered as he remembered the way it pained his as Pitch snapped it in half once, long ago. " You can still feel it? " Bunnymund questioned. Black nodded, without turning her attention away from Goliath. " What of the rats?" North questioned. A shiver ran through Black, and she shut her eyes for a brief moment. They are sort of different. Its rather difficult to explain." She sighed. " The rats, I created to spread the Plague throught entire villages, they were perfect, able to slip in and out of homes unnoticed, and hide withing the smallest of places. Even if they were seen no one would think of the true horrors they held and run." Blacks face palened more, and she looked as if she was about to be sick. She refused to look any of them in the eye, out of shame for what she had done. She kept staring at Goliath, in her palms, but her mind was far from her. Jack could see it, even if she wasnt looking right at him. She was back there, or rather back THEN. She was back in that filthy village he'd seen through her memories, killing thousands of innocent people with Pitch at her side, as a friend. He could see Bunnymund almost scowel with dissaproval, and disgust, but he could not red Norths expression at all as he stared intensly at Black. " The second I cracked Incubo, and the Plague ended," she continued, " They sort of lost their trust in me, never daring to come very close, but scince they thrived off what little power Incubo had left within it, they could not fully leave me alone." She was silent for a second, her mouth twitching open slightly as she searched for the right words to explain the strange creatures. " They are like my staff, a part of me, even if I never use them for the purpose they were created for. But, once Pitch stolen Incubo, and revived it, the rats..." She rubbed her arms as if cold. " The rats followed him, not just to...to wherever he was, but FOLLOWED him, like any of his other fearling monstrosities. He warped them beyond what I could ever have done, and intertwined his own power with the shreds of mine that lay within each and every one of them." she fell silent one more, still holding the far off look in her eyes. It was Jack that broke the silence. " They stopped, once, before hurting Santa," Black met his gave, and he saw nothing but fear staring back at him, but he continued. " that was YOU..." He stared in disbelif at his own words. " YOU told them to stop at the last second!" the other Guardians shared in his shock, and waited with suspense for Blacks answer. She nodded, slowly and grimly. " Yes, but as I said, I am not truely in control of them anymore. What little of me still exist within them is weak, and growling weaker. I barely stopped them that time, and I dont think I will ever be able to do it again."North spoke again, " Vhen Peetch attaked Jack, rats seemed...hurt?" He questioned. Black nodded again. " The rats and staff are both connected to me, and by extension, each other. So long as a piece of me exists within them, the staff can cause a number of reactions to the rats, if you can call them rats anymore. black again shivered. " The relationship between Pitch and I bonds us together, whether or not I would like it to. The staff, as I said is also a part of me. With it, and Incubo, he can compleatly access my energy no matter the distance, and by extension the power of Incubo at any time, though the distance has lessened the drain I feel." She shook her head grimly. " He is furious, and he will come sooner or later." Her eyes met Jack, and he saw the fear intertwine with sorrow within them. " and we must be ready when he does."

Pitch slamed the scyth upon the ground, driving the blade almost compleatly within the rocks. He was so close, so close, to his victory, to breaking Black and taking his revenge on both her and the Guardians, and he had let it slip between his fingers. He sliced through many of his own fearlings, allowing them to rematerialize, before smiting them once more. He could feel Black, somewhere far off, and he too felt the decline in his power. He stared at the blade, seemingly glowing wihtin the darkness of his cave, like the moon on a dark night. This only furthured his dislike and confusion at the weapon. He had used it on his fearlings many times now, and he had no difficulty in doing so, yet when he tried to kill Jack, it had refused to touch him, even working against him. HIM! The Nightmare King! The one whom wielded it! Yet dispite his numerous attempts, it did not even scratch not even scratch Jack. Pitch had to understand every aspect of Blacks scyth, and Incubo with lay imbedded within it. He had to learn all of the staff secrets, if he truey wanted to use it to the full extent of its power. It was odd, and embarrsing though, as he was practically he forger of the wepon, yet he found there was much he did not know, and much more still hidden that had yet to show itself. Growing angry once more, he returned to his throne and sat down, digging his nails into the arms of the stone in which it was carved. without meaning to, he stared at the place where he threw Black, and the Black bunnymund had taken her from him. In that place, all that remained were a few drops of crimson blood, half dried against the stone, and a small red flower that Bunnymunds tunnel had left. The longer he stared at it, the more furious he became, until he could no longer stand it. Practically leaping from his throne, Pitch stood and marched over to the flower, and stompted on it. The flowler lay crushed beneath his foot, but it still held its bright red coloring. With a ferocious growl, he gestured over one of his rats, and the ravonous beast lept onto the flower, and began biting at it. It did not consume it, however, but spit it back out onto the dark stone floor. the flower, now in several torn shreds, still shone bright red. After a second however, the red began to fade, and a sickening brown took its place as the flower withered and died, crumpling itslef into a yellowish brown heap on the floor. Still not satisfied with his rage, Pitch motioned outward, quickly sweaping his hand in the air over the dead flower, and what was left of it was consumed by shadows, and taken away. He had to think of a way to steal Black away again. And this time, he thought, this time he would not sit and wait to savor his revenge. He would push all of Blacks power that he could take into Incubo, and spread the Plague once again, wholely and fully. He smiled as he thought of a certain young, white haired Guardian. And he knew who would be the first of his infected.

The Guardians had separeted, agreeing to speak more on the matters of Pitch after they had had the rest they had earned. Black had also slipped away into a dreamless sleep soon after. After much time, she awoke to tiney jingling of bells, and found the elves playing around with bright strings of tinsel, tangling each other and themselves within it. She smiled, finding them amusing, and did not bade them to leave so she could continue to rest. It was nice to be able to smile again, after spening a horrifing time with Pitch. How much time, she was uncertain, and she did not wish to think about it any longer. She managed a few giggles at the elves antics as one accidentily sewn half of a doll to its cloathing, and was chasing it like a dog chasing its tail around itself.

Jack passed by the room which Black rested in, unable to resist checking in on her. she lay outstretched on her stomach on the work bench. Her arms were crossed, and hung over one arm of the bench, and her head rested upon them, half hidden. He could hear her light, amost musical giggels and the elves fiddled with her hair. they would pick up a small lock, only to find it morph into ashy shadows, and slip out of their grasp, and remould into hair again. Again and again the elves would to to hang on to a lock of her hair, but each time the strands would turn to shadow, and escape them. The elves held expressions of both wonder and anger that the hair would never stay put within their hands. Jack wanted to talk to Black, comfort her after her encounter with Pitch, but just as he was about to cross through the doorway, the elves left in a huff, abandoning their attempts to capture Blacks hair, and Black settled herself back within the coat, falling back into her slumber. Jack smiled at the sight. He was glad Black was safe. He sighed, and his smile vanished. Black was not truely safe. Pitch was after her, and even now was draining her energy from her, slowly but suerly. Black would never be safe from him.

At last the time had come for the Guardians and Black to discuss what they were going to do. They all agreed that first they had to deal with the rat creatures Pitch had created, in order to deal with Pitch himself. They stood in the same empty room that Black rested in, standing in a circle. Jack held Black up, though with many protests from the others. Black herslef wanted to sit, still weak, but Jack had insisted. North suprisingly also agreed, and said somethin about regaining her streangth. Reluctantly, she allowed Jack to held her stand, and place one of her arms over his shoulder, relieving her of some of her own weight. She felt oncredibly thin,and light to him, and had no trouble helping her stand and walk. He placed and arm on her waist, helping strady herself, and he noted that he could almost feel her bones beneath her cloak. He was a gentle as possible with her, not wanting to injur her any worse than she already was. He could feel her breathing shake, as if it was a huge strugle just to breath, nd every now and then, he could swear he felt her cough, though she never allowed her pain to show. Once they were gathered, and Jack was sure Black was alright (after much protesting from her) They began." They arent like the last ones." Bunnymund stated. " The more we take down the more they just surround us, there are two many of them." " They use thier numbers to overwhelm their prey, attacking while you're distracted with another one of thier hoard." Black nodded, again shifting her gaze to the floor. " So how do we get past them?" Toothiana questioned her. They all listened, for a time in silence as Black collected her thoughts. Her pale cheeks took a light shade of rosey pink, and to Jacks suprise, he realized she was blushing. " Posies." she said flatly. The others fell into a compleate silence, trying to compreheand what Black had just said, considering to themselves that it might be a joke. "...What?!" Bunnymund snapped. " You're telling us that these...these FEARLINGS are afraid of what? Of flowers!" His voice rose slightly, causing Black to shrink back from him. Jack was about to retort at the old rabbit, but Black continued. " I know it sounds stupid, but...well I could never really explain it myself. Have...Have you ever heard that childrens song Ring around the Rosie? Jack only had to think for a second, and he soon had the little song playing in his mind

Ring around the Rosie Pocket full of Posy Ashes Ashes we all fall down!

" Whats your point?" bunnymud crossed his arms in annoyance. " Its about the Black Plague!" The other Guardians were suprised at it, and Jack wondered who in the right mind would make a childrens song out of an epedemic that killed thousands of people, but Black continued. " the line 'Pocket full of Posy'? People used to sick Posies inside little cloaths, and tie them around thier mouths and noses to sort of filter the air of the plague, and many stuffed it inside of masks, to fend off the infected air and keep themselves from getting sick!" Bunnymund continued to listen, arms crossed, and nose twitching. " The Plague didnt spread like that, true, but...well i dont know, its just wheneer my rats got close to someone with posies hidden within their pockets, they would turn tail and run." She waited for one of the others to say something, hoping they wouldd believe her, though after four hundred years she herself still didnt. "Alright, so say they still work against them, you expect us to go charging in with a bunch of flowers to stop Pitch?" bunnymunds irritation grew. He was a warrior, not a florist. And if it didnt work they would be there before Pitch weilding Posies at him. He could almost hear the Nightmare Kings laughter at them. Black shrugged. Pitch might have warped them, but they are still basically what I created centuries ago, and you dont need to kill them all to stop Pitch." they all stopped wondering about the Posies, and listened with an intesity to Black that she almost cringed away form them. " Pitch is controlling them through the crystal, and the crystal is where he is getting the power to start the Plague once more-" " So we destroy the crystal." bunnymund finished, with a smirk that he normally wore in battle. " So you destroy Incubo." Black confirmed. Jack felt a new sense of tension spread over the group. they knew what they had to do now, for sure, and they knew vaugly how, even if it inculuded going into heated battle, armed with posies. The only question was, how they were going to pull it all off? They needed a plan. Jack felt Black sway in his arms, growing just a bit dizzy. They needed a plan, and fast. 


	21. A Plan, and a Plan within a Plan

Aftermuch dissucion, they had finally formed a plan. True, it was only after much fighting, nit picking, and downright skeptisism, but they had found a plan none the less. Black had grown weaker, slowly but steadily. Jack had to support more and more of her weight on his shoulder, until she almost collasped, and was forced to sit again. Jack had wanted her to rest, but North was persistant on trying to keep urging her to push herself, to fight back against Pitch and save her streangth, but she was exausted, weakened, and scared. Their plan was based on a theory, a theory she herself proposed, but as preperations were being made, she became more and more unsure with herself. The rats, HER rats, had a vunerability to posies, but now Pitch has tampered with them, who knows what they were capable of? they could be running into battle that was doomed from the start because they underestimated Pitch and his fearlings. It would be like children with little cap guns going against the roman armies she had read so much about.

Her worry about the Guardians wasnt the only thing that was bothering her though, but she didnt want to face it. It was something she deemed impossible, but it was something she failed in ignoring none the less. Luckily their preperations to defeat the Nightmare king provided a temporary distraction. According to Bunnymund, in his home there grew hundreds of types of fowers, and he was sure posies would be amoung them. He had agreed to the plan, but he was less than happy to go along with it. Using Posies against Pitch's new fearlings seemed absurd and folly to him, but agreed to it none the less. After it was aranged for Black to acompany them, however, he almost backed out of it altogether. He had heard far too many horror stories about Black to feel comfortable with her in his own relm, but North pointed out that Pitch would be after her, and she was not safe alone in the pole.

As they argued back and forth, Black stared at a crack in the tiles, feeling guilty she caused so much thouble, and ashamed that Bunnymund had every reason not to want her around his home. Jack could almost feel the drain on Blacks streangth, and he knew any kind of travel would be difficult for her, and going down the stomach turning slide down one of Bunnymunds tunnels was the most harmful way of transportation he could think of for her. He and Toothiana both sided with North. Sandy seemed not to pay attention to the argument, but had his gaze fixed on Black, a very concered expression obvious on his face. Bunnymund didnt seemed to care about spreaking his mind in front of Black, being almost hurtful at times. black never prostested, and kept her gaze focused on the little crack in the floor. The more offensive he was to Black, the more frustrated Jack grew. she was trying to help after all.

toothiana seemed to disaprove of Bunnymunds tone about, or rather physically tward Black, but she still seemed weary of her. Once Bunnymund agreed, they set off, finishing final preperations before they take their leave, so once they had returned, they could begin work imidietly. Jack helped Black stand, and walked with her, holding one of her arms over his shoulders, and wrapping one of his around her waist. He could feel her wobble as they walked, taking much time just to cross the room. Once they got to the door, it swung open before they could even reach for the handle. The edge of the door almost hit Blacks nose, causing her to jump back a bit. Her legs gave away beneath her, and she fell with a loud gasp. Jack caught her quickly out of the air, and unconciously held her close to his chest. Black shivered as his freezing arms wrapped around her before she fell, and her teeth alomst began to chatter as she was held protectivly against his stone cold chest, though soft from his sweater. she didnt mind. It was much better than falling to the cold hard floor.

As they looked to the open doorway, North stared down at them, his sky blue eyes wide with suprise. " Oh..." He said, and rubbed the back of his neck. " Im alright!" Black breathed quietly. North nodded and helf something out to her. She stared at it for a moment. It was a long brown cane, just barely longer than her legs. she continied to stare at it, as if she had never seen one before,a nd took it shyly, like she expected North to snatch it away from her at any second. " Scince you dont have staff, this vill help you valk." He explained, and gave Black a warm smile. She thanked him, smieling as best she could back at him. North nodded, turned and left again, hurrying off to prepare the sleigh(Much to Bunnymunds dislike). Black Examined the cane, and traced her finger over a few carvings along the side of the darkened oak wood. Jack made out what he thought were reindeer in the carvings. Suddenly Black stiffened, but Jack could not se why. He remained still, not even breathing, waiting for Black to say or do something.

For a split second, he though Pitch might have done something, like hurt her from the inside, from this 'bond' Black claimed she shared with him. He quickly realized that Pitch was not the case for Blacks sudden akwardness, and he felt his cheeks burn a bit. He had not let go of Black when she fell, so she was still cradeled in his amrs like some sort of child! He pushed her off of himself, gently and slowly, making sure the cane would be enough to hold her own weight with. "uh, have-have you got it?" He asked trying to break the off silence that had fallen between them. She tested her weight, leaning one way than the other, shifting her weight on either of her feet, and nodded. " Yeah." she whispered, not meeting his gaze. It could have been his mind playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he saw a pink tint in her pale white cheeks. He guided her to the launch room, where Norths sleigh lie ready and waiting for them. Black had developed a wild imagination, and lively curiosity reading so many books over the past four centuries, almost excited about the adventure that may before them.

" Whats the sleigh like?" she asked Jack almost eagerly as she limped with the cane down a long hallway. He smiled at her. " a real thrill ride." He laughed. she giggled, her bluish purple lips suprisingly turning in a warm gentle smile. when they arrived, the moment Jack pushed the door open, they were thrown into an eratic chaos that almost swallowed them whole. Jack pushed his way to the side of the sleigh, Black almost stepping on his heels behind him. The comotion seemed to frighten her, and she wanted nothing more but for the noise to stop. The moment her eyes rested on the sleigh, the rucas of the room seemed to melt away, " wow..." she breathed, awe struck at the magnificent scarlet sleigh, admiring its brilliant sheen and advanced technology crafted inside its meatal shell. It was grander and more stunning than anything she had ever read in her books concerning the jolly old saint. The runway was a large tunnel, carved out of ice going so deep Black could not see the end. Pulling the sleigh, four large furry creatures stamped their hoves almost imatiently at the many elves and yeits setting everything in order.

After Jack had helped her aboard, she couldnt resist running her fingers over the silky wooden benches. Jack could only help but laugh a little at her reaction. Jack had seated himself along the edge, with Black next to him. Bunnymund and sandy were seated behind them, and Toothiana seated lastly. North sat himslef in the head of the sleigh, griping the reigns tightly in his hands. " alright, redy to go!" He shouted. Before Black could brace herself, North slapped the reigns, and the reindeer took off at full speed down the runway. Both Black and Bunnymund gripped the seats as hard as they could, wearing similar expressions to those haveing a near death experiance. They shot down the tunnel of ice faster than lightning, and around the first bend, Black shut her eyes, and caved inward until she was almost curled into a ball. Bunnymund next to her leaned against the side of the sleigh, digging his claws into the polished wood of the seats. Sandy raised his arms with glee and wore a smile of pure enjoyment at the ride. toothiana seemed to neither enjoy nor dislike the ride, simply seated steadily, staring with a detirmined gaze at the ice infront of them.

North continuously shouted and hollared like a child riding a rollar coaster, having almost too much fun darting down the long tunnel. Once the mouth of the tunned came in sight, North shouted " hold on!" andbefore Blac knew it they were in the air, flying faster than any eagle or falcon could hope to fly. Black kept her eyes tightly shut, refusing to move an inch out of her protective half crouch. Jack saw, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She opened one eye to catch his smieling face. " Hey, c'mon look." He gestured off the edge, and the thought of leaning over made Black sick to her stomach. He continued to pester her about it, until she slowly scooted closter to him, and leaned forward, just barely enough to see over. She saw the couds rush by, pure white and looked softer than feather down. the beaty of it enticed Black enough to move closer to Jack, and inch by ince peak over the side of the slegh. Jack allowed her to lean on him, leaning back so she could get a better veiw. The look in Blacks eye made Jack smile. For once he didnt see fear, sorrow, guilt, or anything that usually swam inside her eyes. He saw wonder, and joy.

while she contently watched the sky go by, practically leaning into Jack, she had not noticed he was staring at her. Jack caught something out of the corner of his eyes, movement of many bright, shimmering colors. He turned to see Toothiana, smieling back at him, she had her hands clasped together, and she looked as if she had seem something..cute? He had only seen that look when she found a particularly fine baby tooth. The second their eyes met, she looked off into the distance, acting as if she hadnt ben staring. He wondered what that could have ment, but let the thought slip as North threw his snow globe, opening up a portal in the sky, leading strait to Bunnymunds relm. As they passed through the portal, Black shrunk back to her original seat, almost leaving Jack lonely, though he didnt know why. they landed with a heavy thud, and got out one by one. One she was on the ground, and stabled herself with her cane, Black could not help but gape at the world around her. A vally, filed with rocky tunnels that lead to mysterious places, and moss growing in dozens of different hues of green, dotted in viberant colors of strange looking flowers covered the entire landscape.

Blacks eye could grow no wider, and while her smile was small, and gentle, her admaration could not be more obvious. " Its beautiful!" she whispered to no on ein particular. Bunnymunds ears twitched as he heard, but he said nothing. Suddenly, Black caught small movements of little white objects against the ground. uttering a small cry, she retreated behind Jack. He chuckled playfully, and pointed to three tiney eggs, sprouting two tiney legs beneath them as they scampered off, dissapearing behind a rock. Bunnymund chuckled. " Nothin to be afraid of her lass." He said, though she could not be sure if he was taunting her or not. " They wont hurt you." Jack teased. It didnt take long to find the posies, tiney, thin purpple flowers, dotting one side of a hill in particular. They began picking, as many as they could as gently as they could, not wanting to damage any of them. Jack laughed as he told Black about the time he, and the others assisted Toothiana in gathering teeth once and how they made a competition of it. Black couldnt help but laugh as he recounted all the little mishaps that occured within the little contest between them, and even North and Bunnymund joined in, defending themselves with playful jabs at each other.

Black could only work so fast, leaning on the crutch and slowly gathering a small armful of posies with her free hand. " So who won? " She inquired. " North let out a triumphant HOHO! Proclaiming hiself as the winner. Black laughed as Sandy rolled his eyes and smiled at her. Everything became mostly silent afterwards, everyone concentrating on finding more little flowers to fill their arms. Bunnymund broke the silence. " Oh! I cant stand this! I fel so bloody girly picking FLOWERS!" Jack and north didnt want to admit it, but they felt the same. It was tough to stay many while searching for flowers to pick. Black thought for a moment. " so why not make another contest out of it?" Toothiana laughed. "Dont encourage them!" her tiney baby fairies chirped in agreeance, but it was too late. the boys were already making small remarks, striking out playfully at one another. Even sandy joined in, shaking his head at a few comments, and sending determined glances at the others. soon the three of them were moving so fast Black could not keep up with all of them. Dashing around one hill to the next, snatching all the little purple flowers the could fine.

" Boys." Black grinned. Toothiana laughed with her, until she saw Blacks smile. In an instant, her little fairies were an inch from Blacks face causing her to shrink back as best as she could without tumbling backwards. " UH..." she yelped. Before she could even blink, Toothiana was right in front of her, intently staring at her mouth. " Can I help-" Before Black could finishe her sentance, Toothiana and pried open her mouth, and were staring intently at her teeth. Her fairies chirped feverishly alongsider her, until Black managed to pull herself free. " WHAT ON EARTH-" " your teeth!" Toothiana seemed caught between shock, awe, and fear. What about them?" black asked, becoming concerend, and licking the front of her teeth, searching for some kind of abnormality. "thye are sharp..." toothianas voice faded out as Black cast her glance to a ruby red mushroom on the ground. " Yeah..it uh...its ment to scare people...thats what...thats what Pitch had in mind anyway..." Black svoice was barely above a whisper.

Toothiana felt a bit guilty she had brought it up, but she just had to see Blacks teeth! Her four pointed canines were intersting to her, something she had never seen before. " Bet it hurts to bite your toung." She tried to lighten the mood. Black gave a half smile, and nodded. " You have no idea." A few loud shouts of a scuffel between the boys caught their attention, and they couldnt help but laugh. The next half hour was filled with Blacks many tales she had read in books, or descriptions of Toothianas favorites amoung the teeth she had kept. Being a fearling, black couldnt help but have a bit of a repulsion to Toothianas viberantly colored feathers, but as they talked, the initial akwardness and fear between them seemed to melt away. When Toothiana finished talking about an inscisor that had and exeptional shine to it, Black said; " You know, my sister used to love it when you came for her..." Toothiana ceased picking up a small posey, and stared at Black. " She used to make all theses little plans to knock out her own teeth just so you would come. Ha, the look on her face when she would find a little gold coin beneath her pillow..." Blacks voice trailed off, and Toothiana could see a far off look in her eye.

Her face betrayed a number of different expressions, most a sad rememberance of a once happy time. Black didnt know what provoked her to say such a personal thing, not to someone who used to fear being in the same room as her, but something prompted her to do so. Tootiana wanted to say something, anything, but a deep, loud laugh interupted her thoughts. North stood before them, grasping two huge arm loads of long thin flowers. Bunnymund, Jack and Sany also carried large bundles of them, but it was clear North had won their little contest again. They decided that what they had was enough, so they filled the sleigh, and headed once more through the portal, this time, emerging at the North Pole.

BLack was left alone again in the room, as the others were busy, intertwining their weapons with the fragile purple flowers. Black sat in the bench, after failing to fall asleep, she reluctantly slumed against one arm, stroking Goliath with one finger. she stared at a floor tile as her mind raced with worry. What if she was wrong? what if the rats wont be affected by the posies anymore? What would happen to the Guardians? she found herself unwillingly thinging of her other concern, the one whe almost refused to believe existed, but she shooed it away as best as she could. A new issue pushed its way into her thoughts, one that made her stomach drop. She thought long and hard, dreaming up hundreds of different possibilities, but quickly discared all of them as too folly or risky. She fond one soloution, but the outcome of it, she wasnt to fond of. But no matter how hard she thought she could think of no other plan that would ensure Pitch could never use Incubo again. she sighed, trying to bring herself to accept this new fate she had set herself. Goliath stirred in her palm, sensing her anxiety.

Jack had finished brading stems of posies on his staff (with much help from the yetis). when it was finished, his staff took a more feminine look, to the point where he barely reconized it. He hated the new look, but swallowed it knowing it was their best bet for getting close to Pitch though the hoard of rats. Finally finished, and satisfied (to the only extent he COULD be satisfied with his staffs new appearance) He rushed off to check on Black. She had seemed distracted when they had left Bunnymunds home, and he was concerend that Pitch was involed somehow. Whe he arrived, however, he found that Black was not alone. North sat in a simple wooden chair, laughing away with Black. He seemed compleatly engulfed in what she was saying, and in turn she seemed excited to share what she knew. He caught a few words like, "Wizzard" and "Magic stone" and knew instantly she was speaking about her favorite book sereis with him. He smiled, it was just like North to be wrapped up in such wonders.

North was called away by the Yetis, and left Black alone in the room, promising to finish the conversation at a later time. As he left, Black stood and walked to a window, overlooking the sparkeling snowly landscape. Jack quietly entered, and made his way over to Blacks side. she saw his reflection in the glass, so it didnt scare when he appeared by her side. " How are you doing?" He asked. She didnt respond. For a time, thye stood in silence, looking outward into the snowy hills, glimmering in the light. Black suddenly could no longer ignor the irritationg thoughts anylonger. and for what she had in mind for the future, it would be best ot get everything off her chest. she trusted Jack, she trusted his like she thought she would never trust again. He had saved her from four hunred years of lonelyness, and saved her from the clutches of Pitch. He stuck by her side, even though she could have killed him without even mening to. After everything she had done in the past, everything he had seen, he stayed." Jack," she began.

" Do you believe in the God?" She asked. the question caught him offguard. He had never really thought about it, most of his life as Jack Frost had been spent trying to make sense of his existance, why no one could see him, and then after that, well, he didnt really know. " I-I dont know. I never really thought about it." "...If he does exist, do you think he has pity for the devil? Because the devil is only hated, and never loved?" Jack didnt know what to say to that, or even where it was coming from, or what she means by it. " Do you think, that the devil longs to be loved as much as God is loved?" Jack felt uneasy at the conversation, what did Blac mean by all of this? " What are you talking about?" She smiled, a sad smile, and whut her eyes, almost fighting back tears. " Remember when I said, Pitch and I share a bond?" Jack nodded. " well, the bond works both ways. when he was...when he overpowered me, his being intertwined itself with mine. He knew instantly everything about me, what I was feeling, waht I feared, what I liked, everything. But, I couldnt help but learn about him too.

" Jacks eyebrows rose. " I felt anger, anger at everything, and a sadistic pleasure that could never be filled, but I felt something else too. Something, I didnt thik could posibly be there." Black was silent for a moment. "I felt sorrow. I felt the same lonliness that I felt sitting in my room in Bodie. i felt a longing for someone to share these empty years with." Jack couldnt believe it. surely Black was mistaken, or tricked. He couldnt see Pitch as anything but heartless. Before he could say so, she went on. " I know, its seems hard to believe, but I know what I felt. I saw some of his memories too. One of you." Jack unconciously held his breath. " It was when he was tyring to convince you to join him, and dont get me wrong, it would have been horrible if you did, but, he meant what he said, he truely just wants the lonelyness to end." A tense silence fell over them. Jack searched through to snow outside as if the answer he was looking for was hidden underneath a pile of snow. He just couldnt believe Black, but he could tell she beleived it with all her heart.

she had once been Pitch's dearest friend, and he hers, and Jack did not want to upset Black. " I know you think Im crazy, but thats what I felt." Norths booming voice called out from the doorway, it was time for the Guardians to head out into battle. North dissapeared again, leaving Jack and Black alone again. Blacks hand latched itself firmly onto his. She looked into his eyes with a longing concern, and shone brightly. " Jack...just...just be careful. Pitch is as crafty." Jack smiled reassuringly. " We beat him once, we can do it again." But his own doubt was dectectable in his face. Black watched him rush off, making an odd face as she spotted his flower covered staff. She could not fight in her state and the farther from Pitch she was, the better, so she was left at the Pole. She did not see the Guardians off, claiming that her legs could not make the a few words of encouragement, and waves of goodbye, The Guardians left her alone in the room.

Black sat on the wooden bench, hearing a faint clatter as the reindeer dashed down the ice tunnel once more. she kept her eyes on the same floor tile from earlier, but her mind was racing elsewhere. The Guardians planned to shatter Incubo, which would end the horrible flu Pitch had infected so may with, but that wont stop him from trying in the future. Black had to end it once and for all. She remembered trying to rest, shorty after the Guardians saved her, and the dream Sandy had tried to give her as a comfort. It started beautifly, a bird, soaring over such amazinf landscapes, Black wished she could visit everyday, but soon the lush, green land below turned dark, and the birds feathers began to morph out of shape, as if thye were made of ink, running down a piece of parchment. She could still remember the birds terrible screeches of pain as it struggled to hold itself in the air, trying to turn back from whence it came, back to the pretty land with the shining beaches, but it soon began falling, until it could no longer lift its tiney wings, and plumiten into dark shadows.

she had reached up a hand, and snatched the sand out of the air when she woke, unable to stand it any longer. Goliath emerged from under Norths wolen coat form where he had been sleeping. " Dont look at me that way." she said. " You know it has to be done." she could not tell if she was trying to convinve Goliath or herself. she felt into her pocket, where she kept her little secret, and felt tiney grains of golden sand with her fingertips. The Guardians had their own plan, and Black had hers. 


	22. New Light

Black was weak, but she coulnt afford to waste any time. She was a fearling, and one of Pitch's creations, so she could easily morph herself into shadows around Norths workshop. It made it incredibly easy to move around without being noticed, and even easier to steal a sword from Norths armory. North used to be a Cossack theif, before he became Santa, and a Guardian, this Black knew, so she expected him to own many knifes, but when she had found his collection, she had no idea exactly how many. She found an enormous room, at least two stories tall and a hundred feet long, she guessed. The walls were lined with special racks, all of which held dazzeling swords, hundreds of different types, styles, and sizes. For a moment, Black stood awe struck, and noted that his sword collection rivaled her own book collection, and she had been collecting for four centurirs now. Black;s heart sank as she realized just how difficult choosing a weapon for herself would be.

She had never fought with anything but her scyth, and barely at all with that! But North must have had thousands of wepons gathered here, how could she find one that fit her in what little time she had? It is impossible. She thought. She didnt know why, but she suddenly found herself being drawn near the left corner. She cautiously made her way over, trying as heard as possible not to let her cane make too much noise against the white tile floor. She found herself standing in front of a coloum of thin blades lined high against the wall. She reached out, and touched the cold metal of one im particular that caught her eye. It was sort of a short blade, thin, and a dark gray, reflecting little light. The bade looked similar to a strethed diamon, thin near the hilt, and suddenly fanning out wide, before decending into a sharp point at the end of the blade. The shaft and hilt were nothing special, a simple leather wrapped hilt, and a rectangular guard.

Goliath appeared on her shoulder as she ran the tips of her fingures down the smooth metal. At first she thought it was some sort of steel, but something in her told her it was something else entirely. Goliath ran down her arm onto her wrist, and gently sniffed at the sword. Black watched, almost patiently as the little rat continued to poke at the metal. Goliath raised his tiney head, ans locked eyes with Black. " Think so? " She asked. The tiney rat blinked, and scurried up her arm, around her neck to the opposite shoulder. Black gently grasped the hilt, feeling the cold leather against her naked hand. the sword was suprisingly light, and as Black slashed the air experimentally, she was shocked at how fluid her movements felt to her. It was as if, she thought, the blade was made for her, like it was an extension of herself long lost and forgotten. she had found her sword. She would have liked to admire the curious blade for the rest of the day, but time was of the escence. A sheath rest behind the sword on a similar rack previously hidden behind the blade.

It was a simple, wooden casing, polished black with a dark leather strap she guessed was for attatching it to belts or other placed on the body or armor. A name was etched into the wood, beautifly carved in silver letters with an elegant font. "Polarus" She breathed the name. A shiver shot down her spine as the name rolled of her toung. She paused for a second, then let the odd sensation pass, and wrapped herself in shadows to sneak back away with her new treasure. She felt a twinge of guilt for stealing such a fine blade from North, but she absoloutly had to. It took a bit of searching, which took its toll on Black as she found it harder and harder to press on, but at last she found what she was looking for. A balcony, perched a few stories off the ground, overlooking a vast snowy wonderland, rising and falling with rolling hills and dotted withdark stones. The balconey was open to the sky, without any other balconeys above it to obscure the star filled night. There, Black could easily see the moon, and more importantly, the man on the moon. she stood at the doorway, looking out through the glass door leading out onto the balcony, trying to catch her breath.

she stared at the moon for what seemed like an eternity, compleatly forzon with fear and nervousness. She had always avoided hte moon as best as she could, ALWAYS. Pitch had taught her that the man on the moon was her enemy, but of course she had learned later that it was Pitch whom she could not trust. But scince she had ended the plague, she had avoided the moon out of shame, and fear for what the extraordinary being would do to her. whats more, she did not know exaclty how one would go about speaking to such a being. Sir? Lord? Your Magesty? Master? Ugh, her head hurt. Her stomach turned with nervousness. She wasnt even sure if the man on the moon would even listen to her, much less aid her. But this was Pitch they were talking about, surly he must want to help. Goliath squeaked, and sniffed the air. The rat nudged her cheek, and they met eyes once more. Black took a deep breath, and marched out onto the balcony with seemingly much more confidence than she actually had. She gripped polaris's pommel, and took a deep breath. " H-hey!" She called at the moon.

Great. She thought. An all powerfull being, whom is tour last hope, and all you could think of to say first was " Hey. " The moonlight around her suddenly grew brighter. She felt her heart begin to beat faster, and her grip on polaris and her cane tightened. "I-I" she was stull unsure on how to begin," I...look," she sighed." Pitch has to be stopped, he cant do this, and I wont let him," The moons brightness intesified for another instant. :you know as well as I do, that just breaking the crystal isnt goign to be enough. If he fixed it once, he can fix it again. I cant just keep running of with it for the rest of eternity..." She sighed as she thought through her plan, and its conclusion. "I..I am willing ot make that sacrifice...I know I can never make up for what I have done, but at least I can stop it form ever happening again." The moon grew brighter, and held its new shine. " Im about to... Im about to do something icredibly stupid, but its the only way." She stared intently at the moons silvery surface. " And I need your help." She held her gaze with the moon as it dimmed, returning to its normal soft glow in the center of the sky.

For some reason, she felt as if the moon itself was...smieling? She waited, patiently, but nothing happened. What was wrong? Did she say something wrong? Or did the man on the moon simply want nathing to do with her, or didnt trust her, ( though she couldnt blame him.) She sighed, her heart sinking to her feet. She had failed. How on earth was she supposed to face Pitch in this state? She could barely walk without a cane, and time certinly wasnt her friend now. The drain on her power never seemed more prominent than at that sinlge moment. She gave up. there was just no way she could hope to- Her thought was cut short as a small movement caught her eye. A single beam of moonlight shone down from the brilliant orb in the sky. It slowly moved across the balcony ground, until it grew close to Black. She shifted away from it at first, then let it crawl up the tail of her cloak, until it settled directly over Blacks heart. It clung there for a second, and Black began feeling odd, different. She felt her energy return as quickly as it was being drained away from her. she felt the numbness, and weakness in her limbs slowly ease until she could move freely without th use of the cane, which she let clatter to the floor. She blinked, and stared at the palms of her hands. The moon beam was doing something to her, returning her streangth! She didnt know how, but she certinly wasnt about to stop and ask.

She gave one, faithful, hopeful smile at the moon, shech seemed to return it with a small flash of light, and Black was had barely made it back through the glass doors, before a soft glow caught her attention. It was the moonbeam. The bright silvery light setteled itself within Black herself, directly over where her heart beat. The glow itelf pulsed from a round orb like spot seemingly beneath Blacks skin. The space was no bigger than Blacks fist, and almost appeared as if someone was shining a flashlight at her from across the room. She lightly touched the skin over the glow, and felt an odd, warm sensation beat beaneath her flesh. She didnt know whether to be comforted by the helpful beam, or horrified it seemed to be living within herself like a parasite. Another glow caught her eye, this time from her pocket where she kept her little secret. She carefuly reached into the fabric, and removed the handful of golden sand she had snatched from her own dreams after Pitch had turned them into a nightmare. She sat on her knees, cradeling the sand in her palms. Goliath appeared on her arm, and crawled to her wrist, sniffing distainfully at the sand. Black sighed. " I know you dont want to do this, but we have no other choice. The moon beam from within Blacks heart flashed brightly once.

Black was unsure if it was agreeing or trying to show disproval. Oh well, she thought, its going to happen anyway. Goliath slowly rawled onto her palm, curling itself comfortably over the sand. Black folded her palms together, hididng the rat from sight, and concentrated. She felt Goliath breath rapidly, but not irregularly. The moon beam began glowing brighter, and she felt a strange power, far exeeding her own begin to swim within her veins, moving with ease through her, collecting itself between her palms where Goliath lay. Black was shocked, and she almost dropped Goliath. The moon beam was actually aiding her beyon returning her streangth. She smiled as she felt the friendly presence continue to flow itss streangth through her. She knew she could trust the little moon beam. Soon she felt the little rat in her hands grow, until she could not contain it within her hands.  
_

Pitch paced back and forth within his stoney forteress. His rat creatures surounded him, watching their master bother eagerly for new orders and fear at his current rage. He had not calmed since the Guardians had stolen Black away from him. He ground his teeth, and clutched Blacks staff so tightly his knuckles began to burn. He had to think of something, and quickly. Those Guardians would be difficult to pass to get that ingreat back, he thought. He halted his pacing for a brief moment, and smiled devilishly to himself. He would not have to go through them to get her, THEY would come to HIM soon enough, and once they did, he would be ready. He held blacks staff of to the side, holding the wood parralell to the gound, causing the rat creatures to raise their heads, and freeze. " We are going to have company."He said, almost casually. The rats clawed the air, roaring and snareling in an excited blood chuckled deep within his throut.

The Guardians would come, he was sure. He could feel Black waken and stir, and he was sure she would have told them they need only shatter the crystal once more, and everything he had done, everything he had planned to do would fall to pieces. They would seek HIM out, not the other way around as it had been thr first time. He need only wait. Suddenly, he felt something stir within him. He stopped, confused, and tried to push the feeling down, but it would not go away. It was the link, he and Black share, but what could possibly be going on with her, he didnt know. The feeling rose, and he felt a light begin to burn within her, and burn through himself. He tried once more to silence it, but the light grew until he was bent over in pain. The sensation lasted for only a brief moment, but it was enough to unsettle him greatly. He flelf his drain on Blacks power still bleeding her dry, slowly, but he no longer felt the satisfying twing of her suffering. He could not feel her weakness growing, or her exaustion weighing down on her, or the eternal hopelessness he himself sewn into her heart. Something had altered Black, something full of light and goodness that he could not stand.

He still felt it through their bond, and it confused him. He didnt know what it was, but he knew it was not good. Something was giving Black new powe, power she could use to strike back. She stopped the rats last time, temporaraly, but it was enough to alter the outcome of the battle. If she comes again at full streangth...He shook his head. Let her come. He was stronger than she, he created her after all. She was nothing more than sculpted porceline that he had once used for himself, but porcline could always break. And so could Black. His true power rested within knowing everyones greatest fear. From a single look, he could deduce what one fears most, and use it, to his own sadistic pleasue, to torment and control anyone. He knew what made Black tick, and much more from the years he had spent with her. Sure, that was centuries ago, but that only gave him something else to tear at her heart with. All those years alone, without even the Guardians for company. Let her come. Let them all come. There was only one thing that concerned him, and it frustrated him beyond whatever the Guardians could do. The scyth, still troubled him.

He could not figure out why it had not worked for him when it counted most. It was something black created unconciously, so what it could truely do was unkown to him. He could spead sickness, turn all of Blacks rat creaturs to fit his own design, but he could not seem to murder that incesant snowy haird Guardian. He growled to himsels as he thought of that annoying brat. He remembered the battle just before Jack actually came a Guardian. It was because of him his plans failed. He lifted a palm, and a perfect replecation of Jack stood on his hand, made out of inky black shadows. This time, would be different. He crushed the figure in his palm. He was sure it would be different. 


	23. EXTRA - Under the Bed

400+ years ago.

Black tossed in their bed, tangling herself in the soft black blankets. Her eyes fluttered open, enjoying the lack of sunlight in Pitches cave-like sancutary. Small candles lined the walls, always lit for her use now, the dim light calmed her. The flickering flames danced on the walls, creating shadows off the uneven and cracked rock. She stretched out a hand to the space next to her, confused when she felt nothing. She sat up, half covered with the blanket, and searched the room through the flickering lights, searching in every shadow for him. Pitch took Black in, but acostum to living on his ow, only had a single bed chamber, which he was more than happy to share. There they had slept and woken together, sometimes in each others arms, finnaly having someone else in this world to share their imortality with. But this time, Pitch was gone. Seeing nothing else in the room, Black decided to go looking for him, and swung her legs off the side of the bed. No sooner had her feet touched the ice cold, ebony floors, than she was swept up by shadows.

She ghasped as she felt tow hands grasp at her legs, pulling her to the ground from under the bed itself. Bracing for the hard floor, she was shocked when dark whisps, like smoke caught her, and swept her underneath the bed. She remained as still as she could, fightened, until she felt two familiar arms wrap around her. "Pitch?" She half laughed. He happily grumbled, just waking up when she stepped off the bed. " So sorry dear, but I really do prefer it down here." She laughed lightly at this. Pitch engoyed holding her as she lightly shook with laughter, letting his eyes flutter shut, and burying his face in her sooty hair, attempting to fall asleep again. " Under the bed? Why?" Black asked. " Because its fun to scare you my dear." He smiled under her black locks, enjoying her laughter again. The two eventually fell asleep again, in each others arms, right underneath the bed.

The next night, as they layed down for the night, Pitch took to beneath the bed again, as Black took the top. Black layed on her side, eyes shut, and hand spread out over the bed. She felt cold, and alone again, not having him by her side, and missed feeling him breath next to her, and falling asleep beside him. She shut her eyes, and for a moment imagined she could hear his breath beneath her, feel his movements as he tossed and turned with similar feelings of longing. After a few nights of this, Black, overcome with longing, grw bold enough to crawl beneath the bed, alongside him. She was welcome with open arms, by the mmonster hiding under the bed, and liked it. It became so that everynight, they would retire there, and the soft, hayfilled bed above them was never used more. 


	24. EXTRA - Cant Escape

400+ Years ago.

Black slept, if you could call it sleeping, on a rotting wooden bed, left there after its owner passed, and abandon by the others who forgotten it, along with the rest of the house. Though her eyes were shut, she didnt dream. She hasnt drempt scince she left Pitch. Whenever she shuts her eyes, nighmares lague her. She sees the faces of the innocent she killed, stretching their arms tword her for either revenge or help she can not give. She saw her sisters face, slowly wither away and decay until it was just an unreconizable skull. She felt tiney pinches all along her body that ignited like fire as she watched her own rats consume her alive. She grips the blanket in her fist, almost tearing it apart. She tossed and turned, whimpering with fear. She ground her teeth, and bit ehr toung, drawing a bit of blood that ran past her thin, bluish purple lips, and down her cheek. She woke with a start, almost flying upward out of bed, the blankey being thrown unceremoniously off her,onto the floor. Her brow was covered in sweat, she had nightmares of him, BECAUSE of him again. It was only a few weeks scince she had left him, scince he betrayed her, scince the plague ended. People around her were shcoked when it ended, but still walked the streets with fear that it would happen again. Blacks crystal was broken, and her power slowly draining away, and as she drew weaker, Pitch seemed to get stronger. Black lived n constant fear of him, only adding to his streangth and her plight. She still felt the prickling sensation of rat bites covering her body. She whiped the sweat from her face with shaking arms. She would have to move soon, they still shared an unatural bond that linked them together, even across the sea itself. She couldnt afford to stay in one place long, but luckily she knew he couldnt afford to keep chasing her for long either. If he focused too much energy on catching her, while the Plague was wering off, and no nightmares to remind them of it, he would lose power too. He desparetly clung to his power now, refusing to let it slip through his fingers after almost rueling the world. On top of that, Black heard rumors of another legend arising, one that would seek out Pitch to destroy him. She had only heard this though. She was about to swing her legs over the side, when she stopped. she stared at the ground beneath her, as her heart beat quickened. She wondered if he was beneath the bed itself, he had loved to hide there, the perfect place too. just under his victems, unseen yet dangerously close. she could barely breath as she considered the possibility he was down there now, waiting for her to step off so he could drag her down. She knew she couldnt just stay there forever, and decided to make a jump for it. Her staff sat propped against the wall, and sh cursed herself for not keeping it closer. She rose, shakily on the bed, and lept. She landed on her feet, and collapsed on them, twisting her ankle. She fell hard to the floor, and spun around in fear, dragging herself as gar away from the bed as possible. She watched the bed carefully, searching frantically for any signs of movement, but all was still. No Pitch, no anything. Her heart still beat frantically, and she could almost hear Pitch laughing at her. She could no longer take it. In a rage, Black snatched her staff, the Blade emerging from the end, and sliced off the legs of the bed, so that it sat on the ground. Without the legs, it sat perfectly on the floor, with no space between the frame and the floor. There was no 'under' the bed anymore. No space for Pitch to hide. Black stood for a long time, breathing heavily, looking at her work. She felt foolish, and embarrased. Pitch had chaken her so much it drove her to such an insane act to be rid of him, but she knew that simply taking away his favorite hiding spot wont keep him away. Wont keep her safe. Wont stop the nightmares. She felt tears rolling down her face. She was alone, and scared, and helpless. She felt like she was going insane. She chopped up her own bed for Christs sake! She thought. For the next two days, Black sat at the dead mans table, holding a cup of cold tea, head in her hands, never wanting to lie in that bed again. She finnaly collapsed in exaustion there at the table. Pathetic and helpless against the nightmares that overtook her once more. It wont end. she knew. No matter where she went, what she did, the nightmares will never end. 


	25. EXTRA - Missing Poison

Black tossed and turned in her sleep again, still terrorized by her nightmares, searching around her for the comforting hands that areno longer wakes with a start as usuall, holding herself tightly, wrapped in a piece of burlap she found. One hundred years. She thought. One hundred years and Im still running. She has not once stayed in a single place for more than two nights. Dark circles surrounded her eyes. Shes afraid to sleep at all, and only tryes either when she feels bold enough to try and fight him, or when she collapes from exaustion. She turned to her side, finding herself alone in an ally way, the sun just rising above the horizon, paining the streets a blood red. One hundred years shes been alone, unable to even be seen anymore. No one feared the plague any longer, and though she could still feel Pitch, she could feel he was weaker, and beginning to fade away just as she has. It was funny though, though allthe nightmares, sleepless nights, constant fear he would one day catch her, the tihng she dreded most was that little connection to him. That faint string that tied one to the other, constantly reminding them that though miles apart they both still exist.

She could feel he was weak,and if he was close, and yet it also led him strait to her. It was both a defense, and a target on her back. But it wasnt the feeling of rage, or anger she felt flare from him every so often, usually directed at her, or the fact she could never stop him from usuing it to find her that she hated about it. It was the everpresent reminder that he existed. That they had connected, that once, long ago they would find comfort in each others arms, that once all they had was each other. After a hundred years, after the betrayal, after all the pain he put her though, she could not stop missing him. On the very rare occasion that she could dream, and not suffer any nightmares, she would dream of the past, the way it used to be. She would dwell on those long, cold nights they would hold each other, forgetting that the shadows owned them, that the world hated them and just find solace within each other. She was never alone, and needed nothing but him. He stayed by her side, for years he was always there for her. She remembered this, and its slowingly killing her. All those years ment nothing ot him, she was only his pawn, nothing more, and it kills her to know that. She had loved him, sincerly, and she was nothing more than a tool to him. She loved him, and deep down she still does, and that is why she suffers. Truely this, and little more.  
_

Pitch sat in his cracked, crumbling throne, watching a few shadows dance in the palm of his hand. They began taking the shape of rats, devouring a girl. He stared long and hard as the shadowy woman opened her mouth in a silent scream. He was still sending Black terrible dreams, but he lost the satisfaction years ago, though he could not place why. He let the rats have their fill, before crushing them entierly in his fist. he shut his eyes, concentration on the connection to Black. He felt her fear, her sorrow, but it brought him no joy anymore. He stared around his home, his dark, decaying cave, cast into compleate darkness far underground. He felt something stir inside him, but he refused to acknowlage it. He had been feeling it, whatever it was for a long time now, ut he would not let himself feel it. He was the Nightmare King, after all. Surely he wasnt capable of feeling THAT. He thought.

He shut his eyes, and saw Black. He idnt imagine her face full of terror, or exaustion, as it problably was now, but of how it used to be. He pictured her smile. He remembered it so clearly it was like he was looking strait at her again. He saw her thin lips barely turned up, and her glowing crimson eyes soften, patrialy hidden by her sooty bangs. He pictured himself waking up, holding herin his arms like he used to. He could feel her body heat, her slowly rising and falling stomach as she breathed, and heard her faint breaths as she dreamed. He sighed, and a smile snuck its way onto his face. It vanished as quickly as it had come. Pitch held his head in his hands, that little feeling finnay got to him, after 100 years. It had finnaly broken him, on the 100th anaversery of the plague ending. The empty home, the missing presence on the other side of his bed, his hand without another to hold, finding himself compleatly alone again, even fading from the eyes of mortals. He missed her. He could no longer denie, or cover it up, he truely missed her. His heart, though he doubted he had one, shattered, after 100 years of fooling itself. He created Black for nothing more than to help him spread fear, but he wondered if somewhere deep down he created her just so he wont be alone anymore. He used her, and that was the plan, and he would try to find a way to keep using her, but he could no longer say she was only a tool. Regret gripped him, and as he felt her suffer, far away from him, he felt that connection slowly begin to eat him alive. It was killing him, almost driving him to insanity, if he wasnt insane already. He just wanted to forget her now. After 100 years of tracking her down, planning his revenge, all he wanted to do was lose himself in some poor kids dream and forget she ever existed. That he ever created her. Maybe it wouldnt hurt so much. He hoped. He couldnt ignor that little feeling of her within himself anymore, that little connection they shared. It was his only way of finding her again, yet it wasmaking him suffer more and more each second. He tried to push it away, shut it off again, but the more he fought the stronger it got. He stubborly refused to let himself feel anything more. No pity, no remorse. You are the Nightmare King! He kept telling himself. You are the Nightmare King, you are the Nightmare King...But he could no longer ignor it, denie his own feelings, locked up after so may years. He loved Black. And he hated it. He hated the pain burning inside him every second he felt Black suffer from so far away from him, knowing HE did that. It was backwards, and confused and enraged him. He was the Nightmare King! People were supposed to fear him, yet the fact Black did hurt him worse than any Guardian ever could. Why? Why did he feel such things when he believed it wasnt even possible for him to feel love? He felt his heart, if that was indeed what was hurting him, break with every little sense he could pick up from Black until he could no longer take it. He clutched his head in pain, anger and confusion, and reached inside himself with his won powers, tangling himself around his last connection to Black, and severed it. Nothing. No more fear, no more sorrow or anything that was not his own. He silenced Blacks emotions from himself, and could no longer feel her. He sat, head still in his was free from her. She shouldnt be able to torment him anylonger. At least, thats what he though should have happened. He could no longer feel anything from Black, but somehow, the disconnection from her hurt even worse. _

Black held her chest as she felt the connection being cut, suddenly. She smilled, she didnt know how, or why, but she could no longer feel him. His hold on her was finnaly broken. She should have been happy, but for a reason she couldnt place, she wasnt. Infact, she was almost sad. She continued to wander about from place to place, for too many years to count, until she found an empty and abandon town, which she soon called home. 


	26. Fall of the king

Black tossed and turned in her sleep again, still terrorized by her nightmares, searching around her for the comforting hands that areno longer wakes with a start as usuall, holding herself tightly, wrapped in a piece of burlap she found. One hundred years. She thought. One hundred years and Im still running. She has not once stayed in a single place for more than two nights. Dark circles surrounded her eyes. Shes afraid to sleep at all, and only tryes either when she feels bold enough to try and fight him, or when she collapes from exaustion. She turned to her side, finding herself alone in an ally way, the sun just rising above the horizon, paining the streets a blood red. One hundred years shes been alone, unable to even be seen anymore. No one feared the plague any longer, and though she could still feel Pitch, she could feel he was weaker, and beginning to fade away just as she has. It was funny though, though allthe nightmares, sleepless nights, constant fear he would one day catch her, the tihng she dreded most was that little connection to him. That faint string that tied one to the other, constantly reminding them that though miles apart they both still exist.

She could feel he was weak,and if he was close, and yet it also led him strait to her. It was both a defense, and a target on her back. But it wasnt the feeling of rage, or anger she felt flare from him every so often, usually directed at her, or the fact she could never stop him from usuing it to find her that she hated about it. It was the everpresent reminder that he existed. That they had connected, that once, long ago they would find comfort in each others arms, that once all they had was each other. After a hundred years, after the betrayal, after all the pain he put her though, she could not stop missing him. On the very rare occasion that she could dream, and not suffer any nightmares, she would dream of the past, the way it used to be. She would dwell on those long, cold nights they would hold each other, forgetting that the shadows owned them, that the world hated them and just find solace within each other. She was never alone, and needed nothing but him. He stayed by her side, for years he was always there for her. She remembered this, and its slowingly killing her. All those years ment nothing ot him, she was only his pawn, nothing more, and it kills her to know that. She had loved him, sincerly, and she was nothing more than a tool to him. She loved him, and deep down she still does, and that is why she suffers. Truely this, and little more.  
_

Pitch sat in his cracked, crumbling throne, watching a few shadows dance in the palm of his hand. They began taking the shape of rats, devouring a girl. He stared long and hard as the shadowy woman opened her mouth in a silent scream. He was still sending Black terrible dreams, but he lost the satisfaction years ago, though he could not place why. He let the rats have their fill, before crushing them entierly in his fist. he shut his eyes, concentration on the connection to Black. He felt her fear, her sorrow, but it brought him no joy anymore. He stared around his home, his dark, decaying cave, cast into compleate darkness far underground. He felt something stir inside him, but he refused to acknowlage it. He had been feeling it, whatever it was for a long time now, ut he would not let himself feel it. He was the Nightmare King, after all. Surely he wasnt capable of feeling THAT. He thought.

He shut his eyes, and saw Black. He idnt imagine her face full of terror, or exaustion, as it problably was now, but of how it used to be. He pictured her smile. He remembered it so clearly it was like he was looking strait at her again. He saw her thin lips barely turned up, and her glowing crimson eyes soften, patrialy hidden by her sooty bangs. He pictured himself waking up, holding herin his arms like he used to. He could feel her body heat, her slowly rising and falling stomach as she breathed, and heard her faint breaths as she dreamed. He sighed, and a smile snuck its way onto his face. It vanished as quickly as it had come. Pitch held his head in his hands, that little feeling finnay got to him, after 100 years. It had finnaly broken him, on the 100th anaversery of the plague ending. The empty home, the missing presence on the other side of his bed, his hand without another to hold, finding himself compleatly alone again, even fading from the eyes of mortals. He missed her. He could no longer denie, or cover it up, he truely missed her. His heart, though he doubted he had one, shattered, after 100 years of fooling itself. He created Black for nothing more than to help him spread fear, but he wondered if somewhere deep down he created her just so he wont be alone anymore. He used her, and that was the plan, and he would try to find a way to keep using her, but he could no longer say she was only a tool. Regret gripped him, and as he felt her suffer, far away from him, he felt that connection slowly begin to eat him alive. It was killing him, almost driving him to insanity, if he wasnt insane already. He just wanted to forget her now. After 100 years of tracking her down, planning his revenge, all he wanted to do was lose himself in some poor kids dream and forget she ever existed. That he ever created her. Maybe it wouldnt hurt so much. He hoped. He couldnt ignor that little feeling of her within himself anymore, that little connection they shared. It was his only way of finding her again, yet it wasmaking him suffer more and more each second. He tried to push it away, shut it off again, but the more he fought the stronger it got. He stubborly refused to let himself feel anything more. No pity, no remorse. You are the Nightmare King! He kept telling himself. You are the Nightmare King, you are the Nightmare King...But he could no longer ignor it, denie his own feelings, locked up after so may years. He loved Black. And he hated it. He hated the pain burning inside him every second he felt Black suffer from so far away from him, knowing HE did that. It was backwards, and confused and enraged him. He was the Nightmare King! People were supposed to fear him, yet the fact Black did hurt him worse than any Guardian ever could. Why? Why did he feel such things when he believed it wasnt even possible for him to feel love? He felt his heart, if that was indeed what was hurting him, break with every little sense he could pick up from Black until he could no longer take it. He clutched his head in pain, anger and confusion, and reached inside himself with his won powers, tangling himself around his last connection to Black, and severed it. Nothing. No more fear, no more sorrow or anything that was not his own. He silenced Blacks emotions from himself, and could no longer feel her. He sat, head still in his was free from her. She shouldnt be able to torment him anylonger. At least, thats what he though should have happened. He could no longer feel anything from Black, but somehow, the disconnection from her hurt even worse. _

Black held her chest as she felt the connection being cut, suddenly. She smilled, she didnt know how, or why, but she could no longer feel him. His hold on her was finnaly broken. She should have been happy, but for a reason she couldnt place, she wasnt. Infact, she was almost sad. She continued to wander about from place to place, for too many years to count, until she found an empty and abandon town, which she soon called home. 


	27. Brightening Shadows pt 1

Pitch ran into the forest, the tall trees and thick bush nothing but brown blurrs as he sped by. He heard his own heart beat thump in his chest, his own fear taunting him as he ran. The snow crunched under his feet, threatening to make him slip if it thought it might be amusing to see the Nightmare king squirm with fear. Only seconds after Black had vanished, and he had fled the cave did he hear the familiar sounds of hooves behind him. He didnt stop or even think, he just ran. Flash backs of hooves collidng with his bones and flat teeth bit and snapped at his fleash, swirling in a never ending mass of pitch black. the only sounds were of neighing stallions, and of course his own screaming, echoing off unseen walls as if to make sure he heard it. He would not go through that again. Never again. He growled as he accidentally repeated the final words of his once brilliant creation.

He ran until he could move no longer. He bent over, supporting his tired weight on his arm over his knee, bracing himself on a dead tree with the other. He no longer heard the nightmares chasing him. He panted, trying to regian his streangth and composure before he had to run again. His hot breath was visible in the frost bitten air, only bringing thoughts of that brat of a Guardian, Jack Frost. That was his only comfort now, to know that the insuferable teen was suffering at Blacks loss. Blacks loss. He reapeated the words again in his head, his stomach slowly dropping into an emotion he did not quite understand. He had lost, but she was at least dead, shouldnt he be at least a bit happy? He himself had tried to kill her, he tortured her for at least two days! Why did he feel this way about losing her? He didnt know why, but his mind trailed slowly into the dark ages, more specifically the time of the black plague, but what he remembered had nothing to do with the sickness and misery Black had created.

He recalled it as clearly as if it was yesterday, and after four hundred years, he was suprised that he was able to manage as much. He and Black sat ontop of a cliff, high into the air, watching a cloudless night unfold above them, pointing out little constilations they found. It was a special night, one that happened only every thirty days, a new moon night. The moon was there somewhere, hanging in the night sky hidden to all, like some sort of creature stalking prey, but never the less he enjoyed not actually seeing the taunting silver orb suspended in the night. HIS time. Black especially was fond of new moons. He had taught her to actaully fear the man on the moon, and she trusted him enough not to question. He remembered a light sparkle in her crimson eyes as she told him a story she had heard in the village when she was still known as Agatha. Pitch blinked his eyes, suprised that he actually felt..happy...at the memory. He tried to shake it off, push away the memory, but it continued to play in his mind no matter his protest. He saw Black, point out a bird made up of a small group of twinkling stars. He held out his hand, gathering shadows between his fingers, morphing it into a small raven in the center of his palm.

Black watched in awe as it lept from his hand, and spread its tiney wings, gently flapping them as it glided around her. He remembered her smile, and her laugh that almost seemed to be playing some sort of music that no insterment in the world could mimic. she had loved his little fearlings. He watched in his minds eye as she held out her own hands, shutting her eyes in concentration. Slowly, simlilar black, inky shadows materialized in her palms. The shadows began winding in on itself, and Pitch remembered watching it intently, silently encouraging Black. She had always had a bit of trouble controling the shadows. suddenly, the shadows burst from her hand. Playfully chasing his own bird was a pint sized dragon, opening and closing its tiney jaws in unheard roars, flicking its tail back and forth as it followed his bird. He remembered watching it and laughing, along side Black as they enjoyed the new moon night with each other, away from the rest of the world.

Pitchs lungs began to hurt before he realized he was holding his breath. He stared at the earth below him, still using the tree for balance. He felt, different, odd, and he finnaly knew why. Though, he didnt want to admit it. It made no sense, there was nothing logical to him about it, yet it explained why he did not want to kill Black when he had the chance only moments ago. Even through everything she put him through, between the death of the plague, and the destruction of his attempted plans, he MISSED Black. He CARED for her. His eyes went blurry, and he touched a finger to them, angered and in awe when he saw a small shine of a tear reasting on his finger tip. He stared at the small bead before letting it fall to the cold snow below him. How could that be possible? He was the Nightmare king! He COULDNT feel love, it was just not physically possible, yet here he stood, after watching Black die, and actually shedding tears for her. He grew cold, and numb, as the events of the cave transpired once again,in his head.

She yelled at him, hated him, and she died because of him. He grew colder, but not because of the bitter chill of winter around him, in fact, he did not register his surroundings anymore. He had actaully loved Black, though half of him still questioned whether that was possible. He loved her, and yet he had betrayed her, drivin her away, and because of him she was dead. He groaned and clutched his chest as he suddenly felt a dull ache resonate within him. Could it be? He thought of the last he had every seen Blacks face, a tear dripping down her face, and her eyes painted between a saddened acceptance, an almost satisfying victory, and an undenialbe hatred for him. He felt the dull ache and though he absoloutly hated himself to admit it, he admitted he was heart broken.  
_

Black sat inside the cool darkness of a cavern, not too far off from the hole Pitch had created his palace in. she sat with her legs crossed, puzzeling over something. Goliath rested on her shoulder, quietly flicking his tail back and forth, enjoying the precense of his master whom he thought dead the previous day. Black clutched her staff in her hands, eyeing the now useless stone that once had caused the death of many, and almost succeeded in repeating that terror. she thought of her rats that had betrayed and run off with Pitch when he had stolen her staff. Worthless traitors. She thought. She needed assistance with the task assigned to her, but there was no way she would revive the mutanous vermin. she needed to create new fearlings, ones better suited to her needs, and ones that would not leave her when it would be convienient for them.

She thought over the hundreds of myth and legends books she had read in her time, and smiled. " Iv got it!" She grinned at the rat perched on her shoulder, twitching its nose happily. Black stood and held her staff out in front of her, twirling the end in a circle. She kept her eyes shut in concentration, hoping that she would still be able to pull off her little trick, not that she had been very successful at it in her prime as a fearling. A thick black mass soon emmited from the wooden end, and trailed behind it in a ring. Black kept her eyes shut, still moving the staff in consistant circles, allowing the shadows to follow behind. Suddenly, a small flash of Black darted from the black ring, then another, then another, until the entire circlet of Shadows flittered outward, coming to rest on the rockey edged walls of the cave. Black opened her eyes and saw thousands of tiney white orbs staring back at her from the blackness.

Black gazed curiously at them, and they in turn stared right back. Goliath squeaked, and swished his tail, sniffing at the strange creatures hidden within the darkness. Black calmy and carefully backed out from the cave, unwilling to turn her back on the unseen creatures. After a few trips, and one or two stumbles, she reached the mouth of the cave, and was greeted by the bright white light of the moon. She turned briefly, and gave the moon a questioning nod. The odd shadows never left the mouth of the cave, but Black could still see their little white eyes peeking out form the darkness. She raised her staff, and in a flurry of whisping shadows, hundreds of small black crows poured out form the cave, fluttering their wings around Black as they circled her. Blacks hair whisped lightly in the breeze caused by the fearling birds, lightly chirping and cawing in greeting to their master. Goliath watched unafraid on Blacks shoulder as she shut her eyes, enjoying the sounds of the shadowy wings around her.

Black raised her head high, and smiled at the crows. In her mind they were perfect for her new job. She was proud, not only of them but of the task bestowed upon her by the Man on the Moon. After centuries of hiding in the shadows, lost and forgotten in time, having no real place in this world, she had found a place where she belonged, where she would not be a danger to anyone, and where she could do good. Granted her job was not glamouros, or even a happy chore, but it was hers to do. She lowered her staf and the crows settled themselves silently on the branches of a few dead trees littering the surrounding area. It was finnaly time to begin. Her face actaully began to hurt as she continued to smile, eager to get to work, though she was sure it would be more difficult than she realized.

She approched a splintered trunk of a tree and stared up at her crows, watching her patiently for their instruction. They were to ferry the spirits of the mortals that had passed on from this world to the next, a simple enough task, but Black wondered if it could really be that easy. She conducted her buisness in a manner similar to Toothianas, assigning an adress for each of her crows to report too. she somehow knew the adresses without having to think on it, or even be close. It was like second nature, a sixth sense. At any given time she could tell you the name and location of a death, even if it was clear on the other side of the globe. It was a bit unsetteling information to have poking and prodding at the back of her mind, knowing the dead and how they met their untimly end, but she reminded herself constantly that death was as much a part of nature as life. She knew that it was simply their time to leave this world, but still, a quesyness often crept its way into her heart as she noticed that few adresses led to the homes of children.

She would have to get over it. Her job had to be done, be as grim as it may. The adresses came less frantically to her as they came from Toothianas mouth. she remembered resting in Norths workshop, watching Toothiana dart back and forth between her fairies, speaking so rapidly Black could barely make out a single word. Unlike Toothiana, she did not only have the cover of night to work.D eaths could happen at any time of day, but when she expected that to surpass the work Toothiana did, she was suprised to find that the space between passings was great enough not to force them to rush as she has to. It seemed Toothiana never stopped, yet every so often Black found herself with nothing to do. She was greatful for that, it was time away from the dead etching their names in the back of her head. The number of deaths was large enough to take a few hours of whispering to her crows to finish, and after that only a handfull came to her every once and a while. As she watched the last of her crows fly off to their duty, she found herself watching the cloudless night pass her by as she waited for more work to show itself to her.

She sat with her back against the tree, lost in thought as she gazed up at the stars. No more adresses came to her, but she was left with the feeling that she still had something left to do, something that tugged at the back of her mind and would not allow itself to be ignored. Goliath sensed it, and sqeaked in her ear. " I know I just..." Backs stomach began to sink. So much had happened in the last two days and yet she had a feeling it was not yet over. She thought of Jack and the other Guardians, hoping that they were off celebrating somewhere, and not worrying about her. It had taken her a while to find the words to express herself in her letters to people who saw her nothing more as the black plague, a sickness to be left alone in the hopes it would die out on its own again as it had four centuries ago. She laughed to herself. Black Plague. That was not her name anymore. "Grimm" She let the word roll of her touge, feeling a twinge of familiarity from it. She would have to get used to the new name. It was a darker name, but she sort of liked it. At least it was given to her by the Man on the Moon, and she no longer carried the curse Pitch had deemed her when he first created her.

Pitch. Her stomach churned with nervousness and something else she couldnt place. She couldnt help but remember the horrible time she had spent in his clutches, actualy a part of him as leached off her like a parasite. She felt his black heart, his sickening sense of humor and the longing of sadistic pleasures playing in his head, but then there was something that she didnt understand about him. Beneath the cruel mind of the Nightmare king she had felt, sadness, lonieness, a deep melancholy supressed and forcible ignored deep within Pitchs heart. She knew that sadness, the dull ache for someone, anyone to share even a single day in the years she had spent cut off from civilazation. She felt the same longing for someone to share even a few words with, someone to chase away the empty blackness and the cruel silence surrounding her. Goliath nugded her cheek with his nose, snapping her out of her thoughts. She lightly touched the rats head with her fingertip. She knew what that nagging feeling was, now. she just wasnt sure of what she should do about it. 


	28. Brightening Shadows pt 2

Pitch stood trying to catch his breath, panic seizing his entire body as he stared in horror at the rocky wall before him. " No" He whispered, shaking his head. A dead end. The thundering sound of hoof beats drummed louder and louder behind him, but he had no where to go. Soon they would be upon him, kicking and biting relentlessly until he could find some way of escape. His heart beat rose as the memories flashed before his eyes. He pressed a hand against the stone, as if by some miricle it would just crumbe and open a new path to freedom, but it remained unchanged and cold beneath his was no more running. He spun around as the hoof beats grew louder still, filling his ears with the pulsing crashes until he felt as if needles were being pressed into his skull.

His legs began to shake, and as the rocky trail darkened with the aproching fearlings, he fell to his knees. The world seem to grow darker and darker around him until there was nothing but black. His heart stopped and he struggled to breath. It felt as if a hand was squeazing his chest, crushing his heart and lungs and twisting his stomach. A large black stallion charge around the corner, quickly folowed by a heard of onyx horses of various sizes. He raised a hand in front of him, as if it would protect him. His mouth trembles as it hung slightly agape, and his amber eyes widened as the nightmare horses grew closer. the lead stallion reared its large head, neiging triumphantly into the air. A few more steps and he would be right on top of Pitch.

Suddenly, a quick flash of black burst over the rocky wall blocking his path. It landed and skidded to a halt just a yard away from the fearling. The figure was dressed in a long black cloak, a hood obscuring its face and large sleaves fluttering over its arms. Pitch could see a thin pale hand beneath it for a brief moment. He had no idea who the figure was, or what it was doing or what it could possilbe want. His heart beat louder still as he watched the figure swipe a long thin branch at the Nightmare horse. The black stallion stood on its think hind legs, flailing its large hooves out at the figure, but the cloaked oddity would not move. It stabbed outward in one quick moment with its staff, catching the fearling hard in its chest, and it crumbled into dust. The other fearlings snorted, tossing their heads unsure. The figure waved its staff at them, and they turned and fled, whinneing and neighing, half in fear and half in anger. They had only just cornered their prey.

Pitch watched frozon as the cloaked figure stood as still as death, watching the last of his nightmares flee from it. He had been holding his breath, but only when he could no longer take it did he sigh deeply, his lungs eager for freash air. He quickly wished he hadnt, for the oddity turned slightly, catchign sight of him out of its dark hood. The black fabric created a shadow that hid its face compleatly. He watched in terror as the unkown creature turned, and slowly crept twords him. He found himself unable to move as the figure got closer and closer, stoping only inches infront of his crumped body, slouched against the rock. The creature tapped its staff against the ground, and let her hand slide down the dark wood as the figure slowly and carefully knelt before him.

Pitch twisted away from it, expecting some kind of blow to come, a smack with its staff, a hit to the face, anything, but nothing came. He slowly turned his head to face the creature, but was only met with the shadow of its hood. It slowly reached its pale hands to the hem of the fabric, and brought it back gently over its head. Pitch shut his eyes tightly. The figure saved him, but there was no possible way it was anything good. He was the Nightmare king, a being of fear and darkness, nothing good or of light would want to help him. It was just not the way of the world. He was positive this new creature was here to harm him, and wanted him to itself, so it scared off the stallions until it had its fill of the nightmare kings suffering.

He again waited for some force to lash out at him, but everything was still. To his horror he realized the figure was waiting for him to turn, and look upon its face, either to amuse itself with hisfearful expression, or reveal some sort of ugly deformity that would add to his terror. He gulped, and slowly opened his eyes. He guessed that the figure was like him, and the more he feared it the more powerful it would become. But when he finnaly grew the courage to fully open his eyes, his heart stopped all together. He expected some sort of hideous warped face, twisted mouth, skin apearing to melt off its skull, possilbe lack of eyes, but what he came face to face with shook him to the very core. what he was looking at was not possible. It simpley wasnt possible.

He stared into Blacks face, at least, it appeared that way. but it couldnt be, she was gone. Forever. The figures face resembled Black exactly, from the round shape, the pale skin to its small nose. He could almost see the pointed canines hiding behind the thin purpleish blue lips, almost apearing dead. A mess of sooty black hair reaching down to her waist was tied back into a pony tail, a few lose locks framing her concerned face. The only thing different were her eyes. the once bright crimson eyes that seemed to glow like fire were now a milky white, inside a thin black ring. She stared into his golden eyes, searching his face for any sign that he might be injured. She reached up a hand slowly, attempting to touch his gray cheek. He stared at her hand as if it were a venomous snake, and he cringed away from it. She flinched, and recoiled her hand,quickly hiding it within her wide black sleaves. She looked almost sad, and gave him a small smile, and vanished into a whispy black shadow. Pitch remained there, rooted to the spot. He could not believe what he saw, surely he was halucinating, there was no possible way that he had saw Black, could there? could she actually be... " Shes alive..." He whispered to no one.

Grimm paced back and forth in the snow mumbling to herself, swinging her staff irritatedly in the air. Golaith watched annoyed from a dark boulder half hidden in the snow. Grimm stoped for a second, catching the little fearlings eyes. " Oh you hush!" she groaned. She had no idea what she was thinking. She had no idea why she saved Pitch, she should hate him shouldnt she? He destroyed her life, tricked her, used her, and almost killed her. Yet she saved him. Why? She thought to herself. She had found a shred of lonliness within him that matched her own longing and sorrows, and for a second she pitied him, even felt connected to him again, but there was no way she could just brush off everything he did to her. She would never forgive him, not that he was sorry to begin with.

But still, she saved him, and whats more, she cared. She actauly worried that he might have been injured. Damn my heart! she cursed herself. She remembered the way he cringed from her, and she felt cold. there was someting...not right about that. He was the Nightmare king, and yet he feared her? She shook her head. The idea felt wrong to her, foreign, out of place, and she was shocked how disturbed it made her feel. she felt like the entire world was thrown out of order, though everything remained unchanged. She fell backwards letting the soft snow break her fall. She shut her eyes and let the slow falling snow land gently on her face. Whats wrong with me? she silently asked herself. she wanted to lie there for a bit longer, try and set her own mind strait, but soon the familiar tugging began in her head, and she started whispering adresses to her little black crows. Her mind was heavy, making it difficult to concentrate. I hate Pitch. She kept telling herself over and over again. Two days ago she wouldnt have had any trouble saying it out loud. but now she wasnt sure anymore. 


	29. Brightening Shadows pt 3

Pitch could not move. He barely breathed. He sat there against the rock, on his knees, unable to comprehend the events that had just transpired. He had been cornered by his own nightmares, unable to stop the rampaging stallions as they came for him, but someone, or something saved him. The image of Blacks face was burned into his eyes, no matter how much he blinked, he could not get rid of the picture. He remembered her new divine white eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. That was the only thing that was different from the little fearling he created four hundred years how could it be her? He had seen her die with his own eyes, whats more he caused her demise, yet not a minuet ago he stood face to face with her. It was not possible. The strange figure he saw just could not be Black. Why would she wish to save him at all? He thought to himself. After everything he had done she hated him, He had tried to murder her not a few days ago! Whatever that THING was, it wasnt Black.

He slowly stood, and silently slithered around the path, back the way he had came, carefullly looking around corners incase his nightmares returned. When he had kidnapped Black from Bodie, he had the power he needed to crush the Guardians, he no longer feared them. when Black had destroyed the crystal, he lost that power, and regained that fear of the Man on the Moons servers. Ever scince then they had become more intent on capturing him again. He swore he could even sense anger emitting from them. As he quietly treeked through the darkened woods, searching for the broken bed frame that led to his original home, he tried again to form a logical explanation to the figure he saw.A number of absurd possibilities grew in his head, all quickly being disproved and dispelled or simply thought ridiculos and forgotten. At one point he had thought her a ghost, but he knew ghosts, he knew them very well. The lost souls helped spread the fear that sustained him, but what he saw was no ghost.

His head began to ache before he would give up. He had been so wrapped up in the oddities identity that he almost passed right by the opening to his hollow. The nightmares would find him here eventually, but at least he could rest comfortable here until then. Once inside he found his hollow globe glowing brilliantly in the darkness, taunting his failures. He crossed his slanted bridge with ease, and snaked around dark halways hidden within the hundreds of shadows that lived here with him. He came to a small, almost empty bedroom. The only contents were a large bed, covered in black silken sheets, and a large mirror that stood from floor to celling against the dark gray walls. He crawled on top of the cold sheets, resting his tired bones on the firm matress. He breathed slowly, trying to relax his muscles. His eyes were shut, but he was far from asleep. Blacks face seemed to be permently etched in the back of his eye lids.

He was unable to find a reasonable explanation to seeing Black. The closest thing he could fathom was that the Man on the Moon had revived her somehow, he had done it before with that over happy Guardian Jack after all. But Jacks body was not imprisoned and destroyed as Blacks was. Being sealed inside a crystal was much different from simply falling into the ice. There was nothing physically to bring back. and Black was HIS creation, not the Man on the Moons, how much of an effect could the other worldly being have on his fearling? Putting all logic aside, and going along with the fantastic illisuion that Black really was alive and well, he was unsure of how it made him feel. A part of him was happy that his creation and once 'friend' wasnt dead as he presumed, while another part of him was furious that the one responsible for his latest failure had survived and was still tredding through this world with him. He was not sure why the little part of him was relieved at the possibility she was alright, but then again he was also unsure why he would wish her dead if he could. His heart fought against itself and the conflicting emotions worsened his migrain, setting him in a disturbing confusion.

He layed there for what seemed like hours to him until he could no longer take it anymore. His eyes snapped open and he grit his teeth in frustration, unable to get the rest he desparetly needed. The only thing that would cease his waring feelings was to deny that it was Black that he saw. It was easy considering that he still could not find a plausible way for Black to be alive at this point, but the blessiing was also a curse, as the lack of an explanation toyed with his mind as his emotions did his heart. He growled deep within his decided to just forget about the creature all together and he prayed that he would never again meet the imposter, but as he spoke the words in his mind, he heard the horribly familiar thudding of hoof beats in the distance. As he began to run from the sounds, all other thought left his head. He knew to run, and for now thats all he could think of. Run.

Grimm stood before an opening in a rocky cliff, knowing about the house of horrors hidden was the place Pitch had brought her, and stole her power to create a new dark palace within the stone. The painful memories caused her to shutter, but she pressed on inside. After the night of fighting, her death and rebirth, and the job Manny had given her, Grimm was exausted, and needed a place to find proper rest. She hoped that because of the memories of his failure, and the damage done during the battle, Pitch would not return, and this was the only place away from any kind of city she could think of. She would have loved to go back to Bodie, in her own bed with her precious books, but she was worried that Jack might try and find her again, so she decided not to return until she was absoloutly sure she was safe again. She had said as much in her letters, and hoped Jack was watching over her books like she had asked. She would be heart broken if she returned to find them in a dusty state, covered in mold and wearing away with age. Most were already old and falling apart to begin with. She had stolen them from dump sites and garbage cans after all.

The Opening was narrow, but not as dark as Grimm had remembered. She swore she saw a faint light burning ahead of her, and as she continued inward, she was suprised to find she was right. Pitchs old throne room had been compleatly remodled. The hole in the celling was spread until there was no roof at all, the room was compleatly open to the sky and its elements. The cracks and chips in the wall had vanished, leaving only a ring of beach ball sized crevaces that Grimm guessed were for lanterns. In place of Pitchs throne (Which Grimm was glad to see gone) stood an enormous tree carved from stone, rigid and rough, but maintaining a sense of awe and beauty. Grimm guessed that it must be at least fifty feet tall, and the trunk five feet in diameter at its base. Grimm guessed that the Man on the Moon had left it there for her, and she was delighted to see that a few of her returning crows had already taken nest amoung the branches.

As if on cue the moon, centered in the middle of the sky, and directly above the stone tree, shone brightly, illuminating the cave in a soft siver light. " Manny its beutiful!" Grimm whispered. she smiled gently at the moon as it dimmed once more. The crows glided down onto a few lower branches as Black placed a hand on the trunk, admiering the smooth surface. They watched her pleasantly as she traced an image on the stone. One cawed, and flew down, landing softly on Grimms head. It bent its head downward, until it was far enough to catch Grimms eyes. the action made her chuckle, and she rubbed her nose to the birds beak. It cawed happily, and flew off to rejoin its flock. For creatures of death, they are rather perky. Grimm laughed to herself. After a few paces around the room (which she had deemed, Stone-Tree, for obvious reasons,) She found a long hallway hidden within the shadows. The entire place seemed to be covered in darkness, but Grim didnt mind. In fact, she almost likd it. Still have to find some kind of light though, she thought, cant read in this place!

After trying a few rooms, she found one containing a large, double bed and a tall mirror clinging to the wall. Shocked, Grimm found that the bed had four shackles chained to it, two at the head and two at the foot. she felt sick to her stomach as she imagined what Pitch had placed them there for. with a few hard tugs, she managed to tear them loose, and tossed them into a corner. she approched the mirror, curious as to what she might look like now. Nothing much had changed about her, same face, same pale skin, same shaggy black hair, but her new white eyes caught her off guard. She blinked once or twice, studing her own orbs in the mirror. She liked these better, she decided. She brushed her bangs our of her eyes to better see her face. The movement caused her cloak to shift around her, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught something black on her neck .

She hesitantly pulled back the fabric, and ghasped. In the very crook of her neck, two black cresent shaped marks had been carved in her flesh. She traced them lightly with a finger. They felt odd, cold even. She knew right where they came from, and it made her knees shake. " Pitch " She whispered his name as if saying it out loud might summon him. Those where his bite marks he had left on her when he kidnapped her. She quickly pulled the fabric back over the scars. He branded her, she realized. He actually marked her as his. she had to sit down on the edge of his bed her legs were shaking so badly, but the matress only brought back the awful images of the shackles again. No. she thought. I cant be afraid of him anymore. He is gone, and I beat him. She straitened her hood, revealing half of the cresents, painfully obvious against her pale skin. They werent branding marks, they were battle scars, a mark of her stuggle and victory against the Nightmare king himself. She felt a sense of pride having them.

She yawned, letting go of her worries about the marks. She came for rest, and she wanted at least a few minuets of sleep before the tug of names began prodding her again. she crawled up the bed, unceremoniously flopping herself on top of the black covers. She inhaled deeply, trying to relax herself, but quickly wished she hadnt. She shot up, supporting her weight with one hand and covering her mouth and nose with the other. It still smells like him. She groaned. She sniffed at the sheets once more, and grimaced. Sure enough her nostrils were met with the sickeningly sweet smell of fear. She shook her head, and layed back down. She would get over it and the scent would go away eventually. She thought. Still, her nose wrinkled as she slowly fell into a light sleep.

She woke two hours later, and stared at the shackles lying abandon in the corner. They reminded her of Pitchs horrible intentions, and she could not stand looking at them any longer. She scooped them up in her hands, and marched tierdly down the hallway, past Stone-tree, and out into the cold snow. she would bury them so that she would never have to look at them again. She continued to walk until she was satisfied with the distance. She dug at the cold snow until she could no longer feel her hands, and kicked the cruel chains into the hole. She begn pushing snow over it, when she felt tiney freezing spots dot her back. She turned her face to the sky as more and more specks of white gently touched her face. It had began snowing again. Grimm didnt mind the cold much anymore, it was a reminder she wasnt as alone as she once was. Sure she was hundreds of miles from them, but she knew, Jack would be waiting on the day he saw her again, and maybe Toothiana, North and Sandy as well. she didnt think Bunnymund liked her very much, and doubted he missed her, but if she ever saw him again she would still be very happy. She smiled at the snow cascading around her. She would see them all again one day. She wouldnt have to keep living in the shadows

She would have loved just to sit there and remenice until the sun rose again, but a shark yell tore through the air, causing her to jump. She listened intently through the winter wind, and heard it again. Her eyes widened as she reconized it. " Pitch" she whispered.  



	30. Brightening Shadows pt 4

Pitch lashed out weakly at the charging nightmares. He felt every slam of hooves against his rib cage, every bite on his flesh, every kick against his sides, and he could do nothing to stop it. He managed to strike three in the chest, reducing them to nothing more than dark dust, blowing away in the winter breeze, but still many more surrounded him. He growled,trying to muster enough anger and streangth to fight back, scare them off, but eventually he was overcome with fear again, and again. He was terrified of them, and horribly embarrased at the situation. Imagine, the nightmare king, afraid of his own nightmares. He felt the wind forcibly torn from his lungs as a stallion pressed both of its hooves on his torso, roughly shifting its weight to its front legs. He felt warm spots of liguid run down his arms, staining his sides and even a trickle running down his forehead. He tried retaliating again, but his limbs refused to respond to him, twitching beneath the rampaging nightmares.

Suddenly, the large onyx stallion pressing on his chest reered up, tossing its head, furiously kicking at the air with its tough hooves, neighing triumphantly into the sky. Pitch watched in horror as a few other mares backed off, just enough to give the crying stallion room to crash its feet into his skull. He tried again to lash out, desparet to stop the fearling before it could crush his head against the cold stone, but his arm shook, and he knew it would do nothing to stop the blow. It would not kill him, but he could imagine it would not be very plesant, and impair his ability to think and move for a long time, leaving him compleaty vunureble to the nightmares.

Everything seemed to slow down as the stallion began to fall, aiming strait for Pitch face. He could see the viberant orange glow of its eyes, seemingly staring into his very being, watching his face in anticipation and pleasure at the marks and pain soon to show there. The loud, encouraging neighs and snorts rang in his ears, filling his mind compleatly, allowing no other thoughts to pass save for the miserible agony he was soon to face. the world around him darkened as the stallions foot plunged toward his face until he could only see the inky blackness of the nightmares coats. The dark hoof was a mere inch away from his face when it suddenly dissaperated, turning to sparkling dark sand that gently fell over his face and body. He heard the angry snarels and snorts from the other fearlings, and he saw a few more burst into dust out of the corner of his eye.

The darkness that had engulfed him soon faded away, replaced by the cloudy gray sky above him. He saw a flash of silver lash out at another stallion, and it fell to ash as was wasnt sure what was going on, but he was far too tired and hurt to care about much. The only thing he did know or care about was that the nightmares were gone. He layed on his back, feeling the frozen air wash over him. His vision began fading out as he lost conciousness, blurring and refocusing, warping his sight until he fell down into darkness compleatly. The last thing he recalled seeing was a fuzzy haze of black and white, oddly in the sillouet of a person.

Grimm watched Pitchs head roll off to the side as he lost conicousness. She breathed heavily, adrenaline still coursing through her veins from the fight. She slayne six fearlings as they all scrambled to get away from her. she clutched her staff, letting the blade of her scyth refect the moonlight, and send a soft refection on her face. She turned from Pitch to watch the last of the black shadows fade away into the distance, and dropped to her knees beside the fallen king. She gently let her staff rest in the snow beside her. Her gaze slowly studied Pitch, forcing her to grow more and more uneasy as she saw more and more U shaped bruises already beginnint to form on his flesh. Thin scarlet lines crossed over his arms and legs, and a thick stream flowwed down his brow. A few drops dotted the sides of his mouth, and Grimm hoped he didnt have any kind of internal bleeding, though with what she saw she knew it was very likely.

She gingerly picked up his hand, shivering as she felt his cold skin in her palm. She gently pressed two fingers on his wrist, feeling the slow pulsing of his blood. she let out a breath she didnt realize she was holding. She watched his expressionless, pale gray face, eyes closed, surrounded by dark circles, the crimson stains on his lips, his mouth slightly open in his reluctant sleep. she wasnt sure what to do. She wasnt sure what she wanted to do. A part of her was glad he was so beat up, he deserved it for what he did to her, and want he was planning to do to the Guardians and the rest of the world. She wanted to just get up and leave him here to rot in the snow, what did she care? But that was the problem. she DID care, for some odd reason she could not fathom. She stared at his face, trying to decide what to do, gain the courage to abandon him, get back to stone-tree and get some well deserved sleep before she had to work again, but she just couldnt. Her heart ached as she saw the shakey rise and fall of his stomach as he fought to breath. A memory, four hundred years old, wormed her way into her head.

She remembered sitting alone in the snow, inside the hollow burnt shell of what used to be her home. Only a bit of foundation and a small chunk of wall forming a corner was left. she had her back inside the crook of the wall, clutching her knees to her chest, letting a few hot tears stream down her face. It had been a month since her sister had died, or rather a month since she herself infected and murdered her. Her eigth birthday, and she wasnt alive to celebrate it. She was just gone, forever. The space around her grew darker, but she didnt even look up from the space of ground she had been staring at for the last hour. She knew who it was, though she hoped he wouldnt see her like this, in such a state of weakness. He had pressed her to overcome the deaths she caused, encouraging her to embrace and even come to enjoy it, ad forget her sister, because she had become something more, but she just couldnt. She couldnt just forget or forgive herself for what she had done to Kida, and she never will.

She knew he would be upset with her, tell her she needs to stop wallowing her own pity, be stonger, stop being so weak, and she didnt think she could take it right now. She was ashamed of herself, and in front of the only one who would show her even the slightest bit of kindness. She expected him to yell, or tell her how dissapointed he was of her when he materialized out of the shadows, but he only stood there, watching her. She refused to move, though she felt uncomfortable under his gaze. she thought he was looking for something to say, searchin for just the right thing to pirce her mind and make her suffer until he changed, but he silently stalked to her side, and slid down beside her. He pressed a shoulder to hers, and pressed his fingertips together in his lap. She watched him curiously, but he remained silent. After a time, she leaned her head onto his shoulder, and he lightly touched her hand with his. It was amazing how much he comforted her, just being there, not even needing to say a word. They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours, until he finnaly spoke. He asked what Kida was like, what they did together, funny stories, patiently waiting as she got choked up at parts, listening intently as she spoke, smieling as she told of mischivious adventures they had, little pranks they would pull, their rebelious streak against shoes. Grimm couldnt recall a time where she felt more sad or more happy at that moment. She felt connected to him then. He had been there for her when no one else was.

Yet here she was, about to leave the very same man. She shook her head, things were different now. All that time they had spent together was a lie, he used her, he almost killed her, but she could now forget the feeling of being lost in the shadows, compleatly alone in the darkness that she knew he felt. She decided not to leave him. He might be a monster, but she was not. She would not leave him out here to feeze alone. She tore a bit of fabric from the ends of her robes, and pressed it against the gash in is forehead. Of all the books she had read in four hundred years, she had never bothered with a medical book. There was never any need for it. She was imortal, unless someone killed her, and she did not plan on fighting anything when she ran off to Bodie, and being alone there was no need to learn it to save someone else. But she knew she had to stop the bleeding.

She wanted to take him back to stone-tree, but he was in no condition to move. She wasnt sure how he would take the news that she had moved into his old place either, and she didnt have a clue as to where he lived. she carefully dragged him a short way underneath a tree, and let his head rest in her lap as she leaned her back against the trunk. she kept pressure on the wound on his head, watching him sleep. His eyes twitched beneath his lids, and every once in a while he would wince in pain at some point in his body. Not long after, Grimm heard the familiar thuds of hooves against the ground. she glared in the direction and saw two black shadowy mares, their coats whisping in an unfelt breezy, flaring outward in inky streams of black. One tossed its head lightly, and they carefully crept forward, heads bowed as they stalked closer.

Grimm knew exactly what they were there for, and scoweled at them. When they came closer still, she raised her lips, baring her pointed teeth in an animalistic snarel, growling like an angry wolf protecting its pups. the nightmares neighed, kicking their legs in the snow as they triped over each other in a frantic retreat. Grimm couldnt give Pitch any dreams, but she could make sure he didnt have any nightmares either. As his breathing steadied, she lightly stroked his spiked black hair, never taking her eyes off Pitchs sleeping face. After a time, the moon began to shine brightly, illuminating them. Grimm watching the mysterious orb, curious as to what the Man on the Moon was trying to convey. She guessed he was just as confused at her actions as she was, or maybe he was even angry with her for interacting so kindly to the Nightmare king, but she soon began feeling oddly calm, and began drifting off. She flet her eye lids grow heavy, until she could no longer take it. she let her head rest against the tree, still lightly touching Pitchs forehead. 


	31. Brightening shadows - She's back!

Pitch fell unconcious for days. At least, thats what it felt like to him. He had no dreams, no nightmares, just sliped away into an empty black abyss, physcically resting but getting no peace for his mind. He was aware of pain in his body, a dull ache in his mucles, a sharp pinch on his skin, a throbbing pressure seemingly bubbling up from beneath his own flesh. It lessened, slowly, fading into an almost numb soreness. He soon felt the light chill of a dying winter, as the breeze carried the first hints of spring in the wind. When he finnaly woke, he shook his head tiredly, earning a new head ache. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned in a frustrated exaustion, restless from the dreamless sleep the nightmares had knocked him into. His entire body felt sore, and every movement he made ached. He stretched up a hand to touch his throbbing head, shocked when he felt the cool sensation of a soft hand that was not his.

With a quiet ghasp, he stood and spun around, stumbling as his limbs tightened and stung. He stood still for a moment, allowing the pain in his body to fade. His wide eyes found the figure of a sleeping girl, dressed in a long black cloak, shaggy black hair hiding her face, but even though, he still knew who it belonged to. At least, he thought he did. He had been debating of the existance of this girl for sometime, and had still not come to a conclusion. " Black." He whispered her name faintly, not wanting to wake her. She sat on her knees, back against the tree, her head slumped slightly on her shoulder, clutching a ball of black fabric in one hand. Pitch noticed some sort of stain on the cloth, causing the black to darken and appear almost crusted. He had felt her hand on his forehead, and curiously touched a fingertip to it.

He felt an odd dirt like substance just below his hairline, and memories of the nightmares came flooding back. He was ambushed, beaten, and almost overpowered. He could only remember flashes of silver, and imidietly thought of Blacks scyth. He saw it lying in the snow, next to Blacks sleeping body. If that was Black. But it couldnt be. He saw her die, and the thought of her coming to his aid was absoloutly ludicrous. But still, his curiosity tugged at him. If this was not Black, then who was it. He inched closer, careful not to create too much noise and rouse her. He knelt beside her, close enough to hear her light breathing as she slept. As he raised a hand to brush the bangs from her face, he felt something inside him stir. Anxiety. His heart felt as if a hand was squeazing it, but he was unsure quite why. He felt like he was hopeful for something, but what? He lightly touched her bangs, admiering the soft texture between his fingers. He shook his head, and gently tossed the locks to the side of her face. His hand froze, suspended in the air, just a hairs bredth form the girls skin.

He knew this face. The small nose, the soft cheek bones, the porceline white skin, the thin, bluish purple lips, giving the aperance of death. Black. Dark circles surrounded her peacefully shut eyes, lightly twitching beneath the lids in her dreams. His mouth hung slightly open. It was Black, and yet, it couldnt be. She was dead! He thought. He saw her vaninish and perish within the crystal with his own eyes, he was standing not three inches away, but still, here he sat, face to face with her sleeping figure. No. this looked like Black, but it could not be. He caught something out of the corner on his eye. A small smudge of black stood out painfully obvious against her white skin. Cautiously, he moved away the fabric of her cloak. He ghasped, dropping the fabric back, and falling back into the snow. Two black scars, were etched into the very crook of her neck. He knew those marks. He made them. Those were HIS bite marks.

He coulndt denie it anymore, she was alive! But it made absoloutly no sense. He crawled back to her side, reaching a hand to her face, stopping only centimeters from her cheek. This was Black. He was sure now, but he didnt know how it was possible. He instantly thought of the man on the moon. That was the only way, but how could the man on the moon do something like that to HIS fearling? They were two different beings, compleatly opposite form each other. He was dark, the man on the moon was light. One should not have been able to do something of that magnitude to the others creation. Before he could think more on it, a small sqeak made him jump. A small movement of black morphed seemingly from Blacks cloak. a little rat crouched on her shoulder, inky fur raised and thin whiskers portruding outward. Something like a quiet growl erupted from it, not loud enough to wake Black but enough to let Pitch know it wasnt happy with him.

Pitch sneered at it, almost amused that the tiney creature believed its growls threatened him. It even snapped its little jaws at him. Pitch stole one last glance at Black, before standing and silently truding backwards through the snow. He watched Blacks stomach rise and fall slowly as she dreamed. His stomach twisted itself in knots as he watched her. He wasnt sure if he was happy or angry that Black was alive, or how exactly it was done. Or why he should care for that matter. She and that rotten piecce of wood she had were worthless to him now. He caught the sight of Blacks scyth again, cradeling the dull listless gem within the wood. He thought about taking it, but what would be the point. Spite? No, he wasnt so petty as to do something as pathetic and pointless as that. He shook his head. He had much to think about, and the confusion was not aiding his migrain. Every muscle in his body was sore. He wanted to get away from here, from her, until at least he can make sense of it all. He vanished, into the shadows.

Goliath watched Pitch go, still twitching his tail in a protective frustration. It was clear the little fearling had not gotten over what Pitch had done to its master. Grimm shifted lightly in her sleep, and Goliath curled back up within her pocket. It wasnt until another half hour had passed by that she woke. At first nothing seemed wrong, but one she realized the weight of Pitchs head in her lap was missing, she quickly grew frantic. She practically lept off the ground, and spun on a heel, looking for some sign of Pitch. Goliath stirred, half annoyed that he had been woken so unceremoniously. As he tiredly scurried up her arm, and taking his place at her shoulder, Grimm lightly stroked his head as she calmed herself. Pitch wasnt some child she needed to look after, he could take care of himself, so long as he avoided the nightmares, and she wasnt so sure why she expected him to hang around in the first place. " Why do I even care?" She asked no one. Goliath squeaked, still half asleep. " you hush..."

Grimm was annoyed, at Pitch and at herself. She saved his hide twice from those nightmares now, and even just once would have been generous after what he did to her. She expected at least a thank you. Even if she sort of wanted to spit in his gray face. She was mostly annoyed and frustrated at herself for rescuing him in the first place. The thought of him being pelted half to death by the nightmares broke her heart, but she could not accept the idea that she might actualy care for Pitchs well being. He was a monster, and responsible for her own death, and half responsible for the death of thousands of others. Why did it hurt her so much to think that he was in pain? why could she not leave the black stallions to their buisness and let them mutilate him like he deserved? she rubbed her face, and began to trudge back through the snow, noteing how it had seemingly began to melt. Spring is coming, she thought.

Her mind wandered from Pitch to easter, more specifically Bunnymund. she wondered what the old rabit was doing, and wondered if he missed her at all, though she seriously doubted it. He never seemed to like her very much, which she understood without offense. Her happy thoughts were interupted as names she had never heard before whispered themselves in her head. the voices repeated themselves, over and over again, adding adresses and rooms Grimm had never been. She sighed. It was time she got back to work. She rushed back to Stone-tree, and began giving her eager crows their orders.  
_

Pitch trudged back and forth in the melting slush of snow. He repeated the same line, " Black is alive " over and over again to himself, mulling over idea after idea of how on earth the Man on the Moon could have revived her, if he did. He half suspected North or one of the other Guardians had something to do with it, but he doubted they would want someone who did things like she did back in this world. Even if she did save them in the end. They saw her as a monster, and nothing she could ever do will erase what she has already done. Things like that were not forgiven, she herself still had not appeared to be over it. Which added the question of why she was brought back in the first place. Why revive a beast when it took centuries to slay it in the first place?

His body still ached, but he ignored it. His mind was far too engaged to pay attion to such minor wounds he could not die from anyway. He suddenly found himself thinking OF Black more than he was thinking of how she could be alive. He felt, oddly happy, yet angered at the same time. His enemy had finnaly perished, half by his own hand (though of her own accord) but she somehow she walked the earth once more. But still, he could not shake the bubbleing feeling rising in the pit of his stomach. He was relived she was alive! But why? He was the nightmare king! And she was nothing more than a disobidient servent that ran off, a worthless, broken tool to him, why was he so happy that she was alright? He shut his eyes and balled his fists out of frustration.

He thought of the dark ages, the best years he ever had the pleasure of living, and much of it was spent by Blacks side. He remembered nothing of the destruction they brought upon the little villages, though they had done plenty of that, but of the little things they did outside of the villages. Pointing out constilations on a new moon night, teaching her to create fearlings, the nights they spent just enjoying each others company. And her stories. Oh she always told the most fantastic and strange stories he had ever heard.

_  
" And the knight rode away, carrying the faux kings golden sword, and the lucky dragons tooth tucked away in his saddle bag. Some say the king is still in that tower, waiting on the little manikan to appear." Black spoke as she fiddled with a little ball of shadows in her hands, sitting cross legged on the cold cobblestone floor of their hide away.

" Humph." Pitch scoffed, sitting just across form her, chin in his hands as he listened to her little tale.

" what?" Black laughed, half scoweling at the lack of progress she made on her shadows, dancing around in her palm, refusing to mold to her will.

" the ending." Pitch stated bluntly. " always happy ending with you." He grinned.

" I like happy endings."

" Not all storied end happily though. I like those the best. They are closer to reality than those little fairy tales you spin.

" Plus they scare little children in their beds." Black rolled her eyes playfully. " Well the king certinly had an unhappy ending, waiting around in a musty old dungeon for the rest of his life, waiting on a gnome that dosent exist. Every story has an unhappy ending, when you think about it. The hero triumphs, but the villan always is murdered, or locked away somewhere, or goes home empty handed and miserible.

Pitch chuckled. " I guess your right." He always thought the way her mind worked was amusing, almost cute, always thinking of little odd things anyone else would ignor or dismiss as unimportant. She could go on and on with the things most see as irrelevent. " Our happy ending surely isnt very happy for them is it?" He said reffering to the plague stricken villages. Black smiled, but did not look up from her work.

Pitch stretched forth a hand, and lightly touched the shadows flaring between Blacks hands. Instantly the wild shadows contorted into a small horse with a kight in firce armor on its back, swinging a long sword and brandishing a thick sheild.

" show off..." Black chuckled. Pitch smiled and snapped his fingers. the little knight and horse lept into the air, morphing into a scaley creature with glorious wings, and little pointed teeth it snapped at the air. Black watched in awe with wide eyes and a playful smile as it flew around the room.  
_

Pitch found himself smieling, but quickly whiped it from his face. No. those years were a lie. He used Black to spread death and fear of the plague, nothing more. But as the thought rang in his head, he instantly doubted himself. " she is worthless." He spoke the words to try and reassure himself, but as the sylables rolled off his toung they left a bitter taste. The best years of his life were the dark ages, but the best years of his life were also spent alongside Black. He felt a drain on his energy, as he remembered the years in following after she had left him. Cold nights alone, long draw out days, alone, no one there beside him any longer, the angery and lonely mornings where he would wake to an empty room, no one there to wish him good morning, and no one there to tell him fables in the night.

He missed her. He was glad she was alive. And, thought he truely hated himself to admit it, almost physcically hurting him to do so, he loved her. He growled to himself, and tighten his fists so hard his nails dug painfully into his skin. He was the Nightmare king! Bringer of fear and misery, bane of the Guardians, and yet he felt a caring nature to a worthless fearling he himself created and used. He felt embarrased, and angry at himself. The ferocious Pitch Black, in love. He would not let his "emotion" get the best of him. HE was in control, not them. He managed to stuff them away for centuries, and he would lock them right back up for another four hundred years! He would forget Black and focus on what mattered to him. Destroying the Guardians, and spreading his fears, his nightmares to the world, forcing the children to believe in him. See him. His thoughts were torn as he heard the thudding of hooves again in the distance. They had not forgotten him, and Black was not here to help him again. He cursed them and the guardians. The nightmares seemed to have grown a knack for finding him now. They had done it so quickly the past few times, even if Black had stopped them at the last second. He was too far from his home to think about running there for a temorary sanctuary, not that they wouldnt eventually hididng there someplace in the shadows. The only other place that came to mind was the place he had built when he kidnapped Black. It was roughly damaged, and he had hoped never to go back there, but he was running out of options. He was still weak from his last encounter with the fearlings. Step after painful step, Pitch dashed off in the direction of his abandon palace. 


	32. Grimm's Horrible Desicion

Grimm rubbed her face in exaustion, though what she does is not physically difficult. Issuing names and places for her crows to wisk away to and carry on the souls of the deceased was almost easy, but the knowlage of the deaths, the faces of the fallen, the exact way in which they perished tore at her heart and mind. She had not even gotten over the deaths she caused four hundred years ago, yet now she delt with new deaths on a daily basis. She had to constatly remind herself that what she did had to be done, or the dead will be worse off, and it was not as if she herself was murdering them, it was simply their time, the point in which their lives must come to a close as all mortal lives must. She sat on a mid branch on Stone-tree, back pressed against the trunk, knees curled almost to her chest. She sighed, and felt a light weight rest itself gently on her knee. A small crow nested there, watching her carefully out of one of its pearly white eyes.

It ruffled its feathers, and lightly flapped its wings, sending a calming breath of air over Grimms face. she smiled at it, greatful for the company and concern the crow shared with her. She touched two fingers to the shadowy creatures breast, and gently stroked its feathes, earning a content caw from within the crows throut. Goliath lay curled up, dead asleep within her poket. The silly creature never seemed to be awake anymore, thought Grimm. The names had stopped, for now, and she rest in the company of a few of her fearlings that had not needed to be sent away. It might not seem like much, but to Grimm it was pure bliss, like a tired parent come home from a hard days work, to a family of happy children. She breathed deeply, relaxing herself, letting herself drift into the peacefull quiet of Stone-tree, only breaking with the whispered calls of her crows. She almost fell asleep, until she noticed the caws around her had ceased, and the calm tranquility of her home turned to a tense silence.

Her attention was attracted to the crevece opening of her cave, the only way in or out of Stone-tree. She sensed a presence, powerful, yet weakened, and speeding tword Stone tree at an alarming pace. She surrounded herself in shadows, making herself invisible within the darkness. She held her breath, unmoving, as she felt the odd precence enter. A dark figure burst its way through the crack, spinnig around to face the enterence, moving backward into stone tree. Grimm almost fell from the branch. Pitch stalked carefully backward into his former lair, watching the crevece almost fearfully. His breathing was labored, and Grimm could tell he had been running. She guessed he was chased here by the nightmares. Pitch halted, and watched the enterence for what seemed like hours. Finnaly, he bent over, catching his breath , confident he had not been followed. Grimm wasnt sure what to do. The second he turned around, he would see Stone-tree. She didnt know what he would think of it, and she feared he might destroy it.

Her heart beat a thouand times a second. She was cornered here again! There was the laberynth of hallways hidden inside the shadows, but she had no idea of how to manuver her way through them, and she bet he did and that it would take only seconds for him to find her. She had no idea what Pitch had hid there anyway, and she shuttered to think of what could be lurking in the darkness of her own home. Even if he didnt destroy Stone-tree, and by some miricle not notice her hiding inside the shadows, chances were he was there to avoid the nightmares. He problably planned to stay there for days, months even! It was even possible he planned on keeping himself hidden for another few centuries before striking out against the Guardians again. She couldnt just keep hiding from him if he was to stay in Stone-tree. She decided that she had to take charge, show no fear, adress him before he had a chance to find her and dream up another scheme. Odds were he was still furious at her for the black plague, the recent fight between them, and now that she had sort of settled in his second doubt he would strike out at her. She revealed herself from the shadows, and called out to him.

Pitch stood, trying to slow his breathing. He expected to have to hide somewhere inside of the cave, but for whatever reason, the nightmares seemed reluctant to come within twenty feet of it. He had almost regained his composure when a sudden voice behind him caused him to jump. He spun around sending his robes fluttering outward and held up a hand to defend himself if he had to. " What are you doing here." He knew that voice, but he had never heard it spoken in such a deep, cold manner before. He stared up in awe at the place that was once his throne room. The ceiling had been torn away, revealing the bare sky above it. his throne and stage had been reduced to rubble, and in its place a collosal tree carved from stone shot up from the ground, towering over him. Resting on its branches sat a dozen black smudges, birds of some sort. They sat silently, watching him with large glossy white eyes, still as stone and compleatly silent. They seemed to be watching him, either waiting for something or trying to decide if they should attack or let him alone.

It took him a second to recover from the sight to notice where the voice had come from. Black sat on a long thick branch, back against the trunk, knees pulled against her stomach. On one knee, a black shadowy crow roosted, and Pitch reconized it right away as a fearling. Black herself refused to look at him, keeping her focus on the crow. She lightly stroked its inky black feathers with two pale fingers. He felt furious and confused and almost relieved in a single instant. Black had destroyed his second palace, and erected some sort of monument in its place, but why a tree? What purpose could it possible serve? Unless Black had only created it as a place for her new fearlings to rest, but why did she need new fearlings in the first place? They didnt make very good company, he should know. The crows must have a purpose, he resasoned to himself.

He shook his head. " I should be asking you, this is MY abode." He spoke calmly, yet firmly, speaking at a strong volume so that he may be heard but he was not just yelling like a fool. Black scoffed. " Last I checked you abandon this place as soon as you lost the fight." She didnt point out what fight, or that it was with her. "Besides," She finnaly met his eyes, and gave a bone chilling smile. " Lets not forget whose power built it in the first place." She turned back to her crow, leaving Pitch even more furious. He opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by a neigh in the distance. His head snapped tword the crevace, but nothing emerged. Black followed his gaze for a moment. She was lient, her face scrunched in a stuggling grimace. She looked as if she were pondering some ludicrous paradox, trying to decide on some impossible descision. " You can stay here until they leave, but then I want you gone." And with that, she vanished into the shadows. Pitch balled his fists. How dare she speak to him in such a manner! He, the Nightmare king! The arogant little harlot! He thought. She would ALLOW him to stay there? It was his own design that created this place!Even if he did steal her power to do so. He shook his head, and stalked off down a hallway. He gritted his teeth, but as he continued to walk his anger seemed to lighten. Black was here. He thought.

He came to his bedroom, at least, his old bedroom. Black had gotten it into her mind that the place belonged to her by right. He sneered at the thought. He notied that the little chains he had installed were missing. He guessed that was one of the reasons she was acting so coldly to him. He crawled onto the bed, buring himself within the sheets. She was cold to him. She had never been so with him. No matter how angry she had gotten. It just wasnt her nature. He lied awake thinking of what she had said, or rather the tone she had used and the very sound of her voice. She was angry with him, that was understandable, but for some reason he enjoyed playing the sound of her words over and over again in his mind. He quickly ceased the practice. He would not allow his emotions such rein over him. He would not let them. But still, it couldnt hurt to speak with her again, he thought, if she would agree to at least.

He quickly caught himself. He would not speak to her for pleasure, but to demand answers for questions that had prodded at his mind scince the first time Black had come to his rescue. He would find out why and how exactly she was resurected. And he would give her no peace until she did.  
_

Grimm watched him go, but she remained hidden until she was sure he was gone. She had let him stay, but she wasnt sure it was such a good decision. She had confronted Pitch with the intention to get him to leave, to show that she owned Stone-tree, not him, and now he was staying until the nightmares were gone. The exact thing she was hoping didnt happen. A blush creeped up on her cheeks. " I am such an idiot." she whispered to herself. Goliath appeared at her shoulder and squeaked an agreement, earning a glare from Grimm. She shook her head. She would just have to grin and bear it until the stallions left. Maybe she could even show him that she was not the scared little fearling he once looked down upon. Maybe she could prove herself as Grimm Reaper, Carrier of lost souls, not his little tool. She wanted him to know her, know that she no longer would fear him, (though she sort of did) no longer run from him, that she was stronger than the little girl he once knew. She hoped then he would leave her alone. She shrugged, and snuggled herself on the stone brance. The tree was cold and hard, but somehow she managed to get comfortable. She drifted off into a light sleep, not wanting to be caught in one of Pitchs nightmares. He was only a few rooms away after all. She was glad she had an etire fleet of crow-feearlings to protect her. 


End file.
